Filing your 2022 tax return promises to be just as complicated as always; however, there are steps that taxpayers can take right now to ensure their tax filing experience goes smoothly. Let’s look at what’s new for 2022 and some key items taxpayers should consider before filing.
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As we close out the year and get ready for tax season, here’s what individuals and families need to know about tax provisions for 2022.
Take some time to review the information below to ensure you’re prepared for what’s ahead.
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Starting in October, more than 9 million letters were sent out by the IRS to individuals and families who appear to qualify for a variety of key tax benefits – but did not claim them by filing a 2021 federal income tax return. Many in this group may be eligible to claim some or all of the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC), the Child Tax Credit (CTC), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and other tax credits depending on their personal and family situation. The letter provides a brief overview of each of these three credits. As a reminder, these and other tax benefits were expanded under last year’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and other recent legislation.
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Several end-of-year tax planning strategies are available to business owners to reduce their tax liability. Let’s take a look:
Deferring Income
Businesses using the cash method of accounting can defer income into 2022 by delaying end-of-year invoices so that payment is not received until 2023. Businesses using the accrual method can defer income by postponing the delivery of goods or services until January 2022.
If you hire someone for a long-term, full-time project or a series of projects that are likely to last for an extended period, you must pay special attention to the difference between independent contractors and employees.
The Internal Revenue Service and state regulators scrutinize the distinction between employees and independent contractors because many business owners try to categorize as many of their workers as possible as independent contractors rather than as employees.
While similar to FSAs (Flexible Savings Plans) in that both allow pretax contributions, Health Savings Accounts or HSAs offer taxpayers several additional tax benefits. Let’s take a look:Â
A Health Savings Account is a type of savings account that allows you to set aside money pretax to pay for qualified medical expenses. Â
With the end of the year fast approaching, now is the time to take a closer look at tax planning strategies that could reduce your tax bill for 2021.
General tax planning strategies for individuals include accelerating or deferring income and deductions, as well as careful consideration of timing-related tax planning strategies with regard to investments, charitable gifts, and retirement planning.
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Individuals with significant assets should take advantage of proven tax strategies such as gifting and direct payments to educational institutions to transfer wealth to heirs tax-free, as well as minimize estate taxes. Additional opportunities are available as well, thanks to low interest rates and a volatile stock market.
Let’s take a look at some of them.
If you’re a savvy investor, you probably know that you must generally report as income any mutual fund distributions, whether you reinvest them or exchange shares in one fund for shares of another. In other words, you must report and pay any capital gains tax owed.
But if real estate’s your game, did you know that it’s possible to defer capital gains by taking advantage of a tax break that allows you to swap investment property on a tax-deferred basis?
Understanding marginal and effective tax rates is important for tax planning purposes; however, many taxpayers don’t fully understand the differences.
Let’s take a closer look:
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