News About IRS And Tax

Wednesday, 12 April 2017

You Can Deduct That? 6 Surprising Tax Deduction Tips for Telecommuters

Working remotely offers professionals quite a few perks. No commuting, a comfortable office space and less stress are typically what comes to mind. But what about the tax benefits of working from home? Those exist, too! Let’s review some of...

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source http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-deductions-and-credits-2/you-can-deduct-that-6-surprising-tax-deduction-tips-for-telecommuters-30498/

The Taxation Of Reverse Mortgage Loan Proceeds And Interest Payments

A reverse mortgage allows homeowners to borrow against their primary residence, without making any ongoing payments; instead, interest simply accrues on top of the principal, and most commonly is not repaid until the homeowner either moves and sells the home, or when it is sold by heirs after the original owner passes away.

The caveat, however, is that if reverse mortgage interest accrues annually instead of being paid, it cannot be deducted each year under the “normal” rules for deducting mortgage interest. And a similar caveat applies to mortgage insurance premiums, which might be deducted (at least, if Congress reinstates and extends the rules that lapsed at the end of 2017), but only if they’re actually paid – which, again, typically isn’t the case with a no-payment reverse mortgage.

Of course, the reality is that when the loan is ultimately repaid in full – even if all at once – the accrued mortgage interest and mortgage insurance premiums do become deductible at that time when actually paid. The problem, though, is that if compounded for enough years, the size of the deduction may be too large to use… or at least, the liquidating homeowner (or heir) may need to plan to create income in the year the reverse mortgage is paid off, just to ensure there’s enough income to be offset by the deductions.

Furthermore, reverse mortgages can also complicate the tax deductibility of real estate taxes. To the extent real estate taxes are paid directly – even as a cash payment with proceeds from a reverse mortgage – they remain deductible. However, with the HECM reverse mortgage’s new Life Expectancy Set Aside (LESA) rules, it’s not entirely clear whether real estate taxes paid directly from the set aside are fully deductible in the same manner, or whether they might have to be accrued and claimed at liquidation, similar to the reverse mortgage interest deduction and mortgage insurance premium deduction!

Tuesday, 11 April 2017

What To Expect When You’re Expecting…a Tax Refund

Ready for your tax refund? You’re not alone! Close to 75% of taxpayers received a federal tax refund close to $2,800 last year! TurboTax is now accepting tax returns, which means you’re one step closer to receiving your maximum tax...

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source http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-refunds/what-to-expect-when-youre-expectinga-tax-refund-20980/

#FASuccess Ep 015: Why Life Planning Is Simply Financial Planning Done Right With George Kinder

Welcome back to the fifteenth episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast!

This week’s guest is George Kinder, who is known to most as the “father” of the life planning – a way of holistically delivering financial planning that focuses on delving into clients’ real goals, beyond just their financial concerns, in an effort to help them use their money to deliver freedom into their lives.

What’s fascinating about George, though, is that he didn’t start out trying to create a movement towards life planning. George was actually a math major at Harvard, who then became a CPA (and earned the Bronze Medal for the third highest score in his entire state on the CPA exam!), and only began to explore the intersections between financial planning and psychology after forming a niche financial advisory practice delivering advanced tax strategies for self-employed psychologists and therapists!

In this episode, George talks about his early career and the inception of life planning itself, how he ultimately transitioned away from and sold his financial planning firm to teach life planning full time, his now-famous three questions that he asks of new clients to get to know them and begin the life planning process, and the five pursuits that most clients articulate in the life planning process… which rarely have anything to do with “traditional” financial planning goals like retirement! Though notably, George doesn’t view life planning as an alternative to financial planning, but simply as “financial planning done right”.

So whether you’ve been curious to learn more about life planning in particular, or are just looking for ideas about a whole new way to approach financial planning (and differentiate yourself in a crowded financial advisor marketplace!), I hope you enjoy this latest episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast!

Monday, 10 April 2017

Do You Know These 6 Tax Facts?

Tax Day is almost here! Did you file your taxes early or are you waiting for that last weekend? For those procrastinators out there: get started now and you’ll be done before you know it. We ask you simple questions and...

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source http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-planning-2/do-you-know-these-6-tax-facts-30573/

Finding Absolute Engagement To Get Unstuck In Your Advisory Firm

One of the greatest strengths of providing ongoing financial planning and investment management for an AUM fee is also the model’s greatest challenges: because the revenue is recurring, and industry retention is so high, as long as advisors can survive long enough, they can eventually accrue enough clients to build a sizable business. Thus, one of the greatest predictors of an advisor’s income, and the size of his/her business, is simply the number of years the advisor has been in practice.

However, the fact that advisory firms steadily accrue (and rarely lose) any clients means that eventually, the growth of the business will necessitate hiring. And then more hiring. And at some point, there are so many clients, and so many employees serving them, that the advisor ends up spending more and more time doing tasks in the business that aren’t enjoyable, and less and less time working with the clients he/she once enjoyed.

In a new book entitled “The Pursuit of Absolute Engagement”, industry consultant Julie Littlechild studies how financial advisors and their firms can unwittingly veer off course, and what it takes for the advisor to become re-engaged in the business again. Because the reality is that failing to do so can eventually lead to a point of burnout, where the advisor loses control of the business – and instead it feels like the business controls you!

Ultimately, the path to finding meaningful engagement with the business again is all about (re-)creating its future with a specific intent – to identify the kind of clients that you enjoy working with, the kind of work you enjoy doing for them, and the role in the business that is the most personally engaging and fulfilling for you. For most advisors, the idea of finding a focus – to the exclusion of clients and tasks that don’t fit the mold – is terrifying, both for the change it entails, and the risk to the business. But as Littlechild points out, the truth is that for many advisors, the best path forward for future growth is all about focusing in on the right clients, the right work, and the right role, that helps the advisor find “Absolute Engagement” – because when you’re truly engaged in the business, your newfound energy is likely to do more to propel the business forward than any other business strategy could have accomplished anyway!

Saturday, 8 April 2017

How Going Green Saves You Green on Your Taxes

We all know that turning off the lights when you leave a room can add up to big savings on your electric bill. And keeping a moderate finger on the thermostat during the summer and winter months can make a...

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source http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-deductions-and-credits-2/home/how-going-green-saves-you-green-on-your-taxes-22548/