How to Prepare Your 2017 Taxes for The New Tax Reform

The short answer is: don't.


The Tax Reform bill has passed the House, but it still must get
through the Senate. You can depend on Congress as much as
you can depend on my 2-year-old. I’ve had several
clients come to my office either excited about the potential
changes to the tax code or terrified of what it would mean for
their finances. Regardless of where you fall on the issue, the
fact remains that everything is up in the air.
The best way you can prepare is to make sure you have your
house in order.

However, as we come to the end of the calendar year and
especially as we get into the excitement of the Holidays,
the best way you can prepare is to make sure you have
your house in order. You need to make decisions now, no
matter what goes on in Congress, to make sure you don’t overpay
to the IRS.


For example, I have a client who enjoys giving to charities
around the holidays and makes a point to invest in her retirement
plan as much as possible. That means we must be strategic with
her filing, but it can result in great savings for her. She was
unsure how to estimate what she needed to contribute to her
retirement savings and consulted her accountant. He told her,
“Don’t worry about that now. You don’t have to make these
decisions until we file in April.”


Here’s where he’s wrong: it depends on if she has an IRA or 401k.
If she has an individual retirement plan, or an IRA, she could
contribute until she files in April, giving her some leeway in
her planning. Although, she has a group retirement plan, or a
401k, and the last day she can contribute and claim that total
towards her tax return is on December 31st. Without
consulting our team, she could have lost thousands of dollars in
refunds.


Don’t get caught in a situation like this. Make sure you know all
the decisions you need to make before 2018. This is how you can
best prepare your taxes this season, even with the chaos in
Congress. We would love to help. We provide free
consultations, which allow us to get a look at your overall
situation and ensure you’re capturing all the returns
available to you .
We provide free consultations, which allow us to get a look at
your overall situation

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