Though 2020 has been a yr of surprising modifications, one routine stays constant: the fourth quarter means it’s time to assist purchasers plan their funds for the brand new yr. With new tax and retirement issues associated to the COVID-19 pandemic this yr, it’s not too early to get happening these planning conversations with purchasers—this manner, they received’t discover themselves scrambling in the course of the vacation season, and also you’ll have the chance to bolster the worth you ship.

The next year-end monetary planning guidelines highlights vital factors to make use of as a information to assist make your discussions with purchasers as productive as attainable.

1) Max Out Retirement Contributions

Are your purchasers taking full benefit of their office retirement accounts? If not, encourage them to think about growing contributions to max out employer matches. Boosting contributions to an IRA might supply them tax benefits as nicely. Remember that the SECURE Act repealed the utmost age for contributions to a standard IRA, efficient January 1, 2020. So long as people have earned revenue in 2020, they’ll contribute to a standard IRA after age 70½—and, relying on modified adjusted gross revenue (MAGI), they are able to deduct the contribution.

2) Refocus on Targets

Did you’re employed together with your purchasers on financial savings objectives for 2020? Consider how they did and supply to assist them develop a plan—for setting practical targets for subsequent yr in addition to staying on monitor to attain them.

3) Use Versatile Spending Account (FSA) {Dollars}

You probably have purchasers with FSAs, you’ll want to allow them to know the Inside Income Service relaxed sure “use-or-lose” guidelines this yr due to the pandemic. Employers can modify plans by the tip of this yr to permit workers to “spend down” unused FSA funds on any well being care expense incurred in 2020—and allow them to carry as a lot as $550 over to the 2021 plan yr. For purchasers who don’t have FSAs, supply to assist them calculate qualifying well being care prices to see if it is sensible to determine one for 2021.

4) Handle Marginal Tax Charges

Purchasers on the edge of a tax bracket might be able to put themselves within the decrease bracket by deferring some revenue to 2021. In case your purchasers itemize, focus on the opportunity of accelerating deductions reminiscent of medical bills or charitable donations into 2020 (reasonably than paying for deductible gadgets in 2021), which can have the identical impact.

Listed below are just a few key 2020 tax thresholds to bear in mind: 

• The 37 p.c marginal tax charge impacts these with taxable incomes in extra of $518,400 (particular person), $622,050 (married submitting collectively), $518,400 (head of family), and $311,025 (married submitting individually).

• The 20 p.c capital beneficial properties tax charge applies to these with taxable incomes in extra of $441,450 (particular person), $496,600 (married submitting collectively), $469,050 (head of family), and $248,300 (married submitting individually).

• The three.8 p.c surtax on funding revenue applies to the lesser of web funding revenue or the surplus of MAGI higher than $200,000 (particular person), $250,000 (married submitting collectively), $200,000 (head of family), and $125,000 (married submitting individually).

5) Rebalance Portfolios

Reviewing capital beneficial properties and losses in your purchasers might reveal tax planning alternatives; for instance, they are able to harvest losses to offset capital beneficial properties. You may ask purchasers to make introductions to their CPAs so you possibly can collaborate on completely different choices for them.

6) Discover Alternatives for Charitable Presents

Donating to charity is one other good technique to cut back taxable revenue—and assist a worthy trigger. In your planning conversations with purchasers, ask in the event that they’re occupied with trying into varied gifting alternate options, together with donor-advised funds. In the event that they decide to make charitable contributions in 2020, they’ll deduct as much as $300 for charitable contributions even when they don’t itemize deductions. This “above-the-line” deduction is new for 2020 below the CARES Act. In case your shopper itemizes, the CARES Act additionally permits a deduction for all money contributions to public charities as much as one hundred pc of their adjusted gross revenue. What about purchasers older than 70½? Don’t overlook that neither the CARES Act nor the SECURE Act modified the certified charitable distribution (QCD) guidelines. Purchasers older than 70½ can nonetheless make a QCD of as much as $100,000 per particular person on to a charity—and married taxpayers submitting collectively might exclude as much as $100,000 donated from every partner’s IRA.

7) Type a Technique for Inventory Choices

Purchasers who maintain inventory choices might need assistance growing an method for managing present and future revenue. Think about the timing of a nonqualified inventory possibility train primarily based on a shopper’s estimated tax image. Does it make sense to keep away from accelerating revenue into the present tax yr or to defer revenue to future years? For purchasers who’re contemplating exercising incentive inventory choices earlier than year-end, suggest they’ve their tax advisors put together different minimal tax projections to see whether or not there’s any tax profit to ready till January.

8) Plan for Estimated Taxes and Required Minimal Distributions (RMDs)

Each the SECURE and CARES acts have an effect on 2020 tax planning and RMDs, so purchasers could have some further issues. Beneath the SECURE Act, people who attain age 70½ after January 1, 2020, can now wait till they flip 72 to begin taking RMDs—and the CARES Act waived RMDs for 2020. Beneath the CARES Act, purchasers who took coronavirus-related distributions (CRDs) from their retirement plans have 4 choices:

1. Repay the CRD.

2. Pay all the revenue tax associated to the CRD in 2020.

3. Pay the tax legal responsibility over a three-year interval that features 2020, 2021, and 2022.

4. Roll the funds again in over a three-year interval. (Repayments shall be coded as rollover contributions however received’t depend as a shopper’s one allowable 60-day rollover per 12-month interval.)

Purchasers might want to file IRS Type 8915-E to report the CRD compensation or its inclusion in taxable revenue. The IRS expects Type 8915-E to be accessible by the tip of 2020. Keep in mind that purchasers who select to not repay the CRD might want to elect on their 2020 revenue tax returns how they plan to pay taxes related to the CRD. It’s vital to level out, nevertheless, that after purchasers elect a technique, they’ll’t change it. Likewise, people who took a 401(ok) mortgage after March 27, 2020, might want to set up a compensation plan and make sure the quantity of accrued curiosity.

9) Alter Withholding

Purchasers who could also be topic to an estimated tax penalty can take into account asking employers (by way of Type W-4) to extend their withholding for the rest of the yr to cowl shortfalls. The largest benefit of that is that withholding is taken into account to be paid evenly all year long as an alternative of when the {dollars} are literally taken out of your paycheck. This technique may also be used to make up for low or lacking quarterly estimated tax funds. You probably have purchasers who collected unemployment in 2020, remind them that any advantages they acquired are topic to federal revenue tax. Taxes on the state degree range, and never all states tax unemployment advantages. If people acquired unemployment advantages and didn’t have taxes withheld, they might must plan for owing taxes once they file their 2020 returns.

10) Evaluate Property Paperwork

Now is an efficient time to evaluation and replace property plans for purchasers to ensure they align with objectives and account for any life modifications or different circumstances. Take time to:

• Verify belief funding

• Replace beneficiary designations

• Take a contemporary take a look at trustee and agent appointments

• Evaluate provisions of powers of lawyer and well being care directives

• Be certain that purchasers totally perceive all the paperwork

Be a Useful resource

Though this year-end monetary planning guidelines addresses many issues, it’s actually a place to begin in your planning conversations with purchasers. Attain out proactively to let purchasers know you’re accessible to assist them get a leap on planning now and discuss by the problems and deadlines most related to them. And keep in mind, for those who make this a collaborative course of with their CPAs, attorneys, and different specialists, you possibly can assist be sure that your purchasers reap essentially the most advantages—and deepen your relationships alongside the way in which.

Commonwealth Monetary Community® doesn’t present authorized or tax recommendation.