tax planning

strategies
In addition to saving income taxes for the current and future years,
tax planning can reduce eventual estate taxes, maximize the
amount of funds you will have available for retirement, reduce the
cost of educating your children, and assist you in managing your
cash flow to help you meet your financial objectives.

In addition, tax planning can reduce eventual estate taxes, maximize the amount of funds you will have available for retirement,
reduce the cost of educating your children, and assist you in managing your cash flow to help you meet your financial objectives.
Specifically, tax planning strategies can defer some of your current
years tax to a future year, thereby freeing up cash for investment,
business or personal use. This can be accomplished by timing
when you pay certain expenses, or controlling when your income
is recognized. Tax planning can also help you take advantage of
tax rate differentials between years. However, if tax rates rise in a
subsequent year, extra caution may be necessary. Tax planning can
also help you prevent, or minimize, the impact of the alternative
minimum tax (AMT) by preserving the tax benefit of many of
your deductions.
The key things you need to understand as you look for ways to
minimize your taxes are:

Residents of states with high income and property taxes, such

as New York, California, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New
Jersey, are most likely to be subject to the AMT.
For 2012, long-term capital gains generally were subject to a

maximum tax rate of 15% (with rates as low as 0% for lower

income taxpayers). However, short-term capital gains were
taxed as high as 35%. For 2013 and beyond, the top long-term
capital gains tax rate is 20%, in addition to the 3.8% Medicare
Contribution Tax on unearned income. The top short-term
capital gains tax rate is 43.4%, inclusive of the Medicare
Contribution Tax.
1. What happens if you currently have a capital loss carry forward? In that case, you may wish to consider utilizing the
capital loss carryforward against any 2013 capital gains.
2. Under current law, the complex netting rules have the
potential effect of making your long-term gains subject to
short-term rates, so you must carefully time your security
trades to ensure that you receive the full benefit of the lowest
capital gains tax rate.

YEAR-END TAX PLANNING TIPS

Tax Tip 1 gives you a snapshot of key strategies that will help you
achieve your goals. It includes planning ideas to help you reduce
your current years tax as well as ideas to reduce your future taxes.
While this chart is not all inclusive, it is a good starting point to

help you identify planning ideas that might apply to your situation.
Keep in mind that many of the strategies involve knowing what
your approximate income and tax rates will be for the current and
subsequent years, and then applying the applicable tax law for
each year to determine the best path to follow. Implementation
of many of these ideas requires a thorough knowledge of tax laws,
thoughtful planning and timely action.

TAX PLANNING GOALS

Proper tax planning can achieve the following goals:

Lower this years tax.

Defer this years tax to future years.
Reduce your tax in future years.
Maximize the tax savings from allowable
deductions.

Minimize the effect of the AMT on this years tax

liability.

Take advantage of available tax credits.

Maximize the amount of wealth that stays in
your family.

Minimize capital gains tax.

Avoid penalties for underpayment of estimated
taxes.

Free up cash for investment, business or personal

needs by deferring your tax liability.

Manage your cash flow by projecting when tax

payments will be required.

Minimize potential future estate taxes so you can

leave the maximum amount to your beneficiaries
(and/or charities) rather than the government.

Maximize the amount of money you will have for

your retirement and education funding for your
children.

tax planning goals

Now, more than ever, individuals and families should take steps to
maximize income and gift tax savings, taking into consideration
their own specific economic, financial and tax situation.

6
EisnerAmper 2013 personal tax guide

Timing when you pay deductible expenses and when you receive
income (to the extent you have control) can permanently reduce
your taxes especially if you are subject to the AMT in one year
but not another. Timing expenses and income can also defer some
of your tax to next year (or even later years) giving you, rather than
the government, use of your money.

Charitable Contributions
You can deduct cash charitable gifts totaling up to 50% of your
adjusted gross income (AGI) and charitable gifts of appreciated
capital gain property up to 30% of your AGI (30% and 20%,
respectively, if given to a private non-operating foundation).

State and Local Income Taxes

To gain the maximum benefit, you need to project, as best you can,
your tax situation for the current and subsequent years so you can
identify your tax bracket for each year and determine whether the
AMT will likely affect you in either or both years. Included in your
projections should be your year-to-date realized capital gains and
losses. Be sure to consider prior year loss carry forwards (if any).
Based on these results, you can decide what steps to take before
year-end. Should you prepay deductions and defer income, or
defer expenses and accelerate income, realize capital losses, or
lock in capital gains?

If you are not in the AMT this year, you can prepay before
December 31, 2013 your fourth quarter 2013 state estimated tax
payment due on January 15, 2014, and even any state income tax
you project will be due on April 15, 2014. You will gain the benefit
of deferring part of your federal income tax liability and protect
those deductions that could be lost if you fall into the AMT in 2014.
Prepaying these taxes will probably outweigh any lost earnings
on the use of the funds. However, be careful that the prepayment
itself doesnt put you into the AMT.

Real Estate Taxes

Tax Tip 2 offers basic guidance for deciding when to prepay or defer
deductible expenses and when to defer or collect income. Tax Tip 3
offers steps to follow when deciding whether to take capital gains
and losses, and the type of gains and losses you should trigger.

Like state and local income taxes, prepaying 2014 taxes early can
be an especially beneficial strategy should you end up subject to
the AMT next year, but would not be if you are in the AMT in 2013.

Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions

STEPS TO TAKE IF THE AMT APPLIES EITHER

THIS YEAR OR NEXT
As a general rule, if your year-end projection indicates that you
will be in the AMT, or are highly likely to be in the AMT, it is very
important that you do not pay any of the following expenses before
the end of the year, since they are not deductible in computing
your AMT and you will receive no tax benefit from the deduction:

State and local income taxes

Miscellaneous itemized deductions are deductible for regular

income tax purposes only if they exceed, in the aggregate, 2%
of your AGI and you are not subject to the AMT. Bunching these
deductions to gain the most favorable tax result may be a viable
strategy.

Mortgage Interest
Consider prepaying your January 2014 mortgage payment in 2013
in order to accelerate the deduction into the current year.

Margin Interest

Real estate taxes

Be sure to pay any margin interest before December 31, 2013 since
interest accrued at year-end is only deductible if actually paid.

Miscellaneous

Business Equipment

Conversely, if it looks like you will not be in the AMT in the current
year, you should try to prepay as many of the above expenses
as possible to receive the maximum tax benefit. Keep in mind,
though, that the more you prepay, the more likely that you will
end up in the AMT.

INCOME YOU CAN ACCELERATE OR DEFER

itemized deductions such as investment

expenses and employee business expenses

EXPENSES YOU CAN PREPAY

Here are the most common deductible expenses you can easily
prepay by December 31, 2013, if appropriate:

You can accelerate purchases of business equipment before the

end of the year to take advantage of expanded expensing allowances, subject to certain limitations. To qualify, the property must
be placed in service in 2013.

Timing income can be more difficult than timing deductions, but

here are some types of income that you may be able to control the
timing of receipt so that you can gain the advantage of having the
income taxed in a year that you are in a lower tax bracket.

7
tax planning goals

tax tip

KEY TAX PLANNING STRATEGIES

Detailed
discussion

Situation

Planning idea

Your regular tax rate will be the same

or lower next year and the AMT will
not apply in either year.

Prepay deductions.
Defer income.

Pg 6

Your regular tax rate will increase

next year and the AMT will not apply
in either year.

Defer deductions.
Accelerate income, but only if the tax rate increase warrants

Pg 6

The regular tax rate applies this year

and is higher than the AMT rate that
you expect will apply next year.

Prepay deductions, especially if they are not deductible against the

Pg 22

This year you are in the AMT and

next year you will be subject to a
higher regular tax rate.

Defer deductions, especially those not allowed against the AMT that

Pg 22

You have net realized capital losses

this year or loss carryforwards from
last year.

Consider recognizing capital gains by selling appreciated securities to

Pg 9

You have net realized capital gains

this year.

Sell securities with unrealized losses to offset the gains

Pg 9

accelerating tax payments.

AMT and would therefore be lost next year. These deductions include
state and local income taxes, real estate taxes, and miscellaneous
itemized deductions such as investment fees.
Defer income.

would be lost this year.

Accelerate income.

offset realized losses and loss carryforwards.

if market conditions justify it.

Use a bond swap to realize losses.
Consider tax implications of netting rules.
Avoid wash sale rules.

Pg 36
Pg 33
Pg 35

You are contemplating purchasing

new business equipment.

Accelerate the purchases into 2013 to take advantage of bonus

Pg 27

Your miscellaneous deductions will be

reduced due to the limitation based
on 2% of your AGI.

Bunch these deductions into a single year, thereby increasing the

Pg 10

A penalty for underpayment of

estimated taxes will apply.

Withhold additional amounts of tax from your wages before

Pg 20

You want to diversify a concentrated

low-basis stock position and avoid
paying taxes currently.

Consider using a charitable remainder trust that will allow you to sell

Pg 62

depreciation and section 179 deductions available this year.

(Purchases must be placed in service in 2013.)

deductible amount. Make sure you avoid the AMT.

December 31.
Prepay fourth quarter estimates due January 15 and increase the
payment amount, if necessary.

the stock in exchange for an annuity. This will allow you to defer the
tax while benefiting a charity of your choice.

8
EisnerAmper 2013 personal tax guide

tax tip

KEY TAX PLANNING STRATEGIES

Situation

Planning idea

Detailed
discussion

You have incentive stock options

that you can exercise.

Consider exercising your options to start the long-term holding period, but

Pg 40

Your passive activity losses

exceed your passive income.

Dispose of an activity that is generating passive losses in order to deduct

Pg 51

You would like to make

significant charitable
contributions.

Donate appreciated securities you have held for more than one year.
Consider establishing a charitable trust or a private foundation, or take

Pg 60

You need funds for personal use,

such as improvements to your
home in excess of the mortgage
limitations or to pay tax liabilities.

Sell marketable securities with little or no appreciation to fund your needs,

Pg 68

and then use margin debt to purchase replacement securities. The interest
on the debt will be deductible, subject to investment interest limitations.
Take distributions, if available, from partnerships, limited liability companies,
or S corporations on income that you have already paid taxes on. Just make
sure you have sufficient tax basis and are at risk in the entity.

Pg 28

You want to take advantage of the

tax-deferred nature of retirement
accounts.

Maximize your contributions to your retirement accounts and take

Pg 72

You expect the value of your

IRA to appreciate over time, and
you want to position your IRA
now so that there will be little or
no tax impact when you or your
beneficiaries take distributions
later.

Consider converting your traditional IRA into a Roth IRA in the current year.

Pg 75

You have a sizeable estate and

want to protect your assets from
estate tax.

Make gifts of $14,000 to each individual in 2013.

Pay beneficiaries tuition and medical expenses directly to the providers.
Use your lifetime gift tax exclusion of $5.25 million (effective for 2013 only;

Pg 79

You want to transfer assets to

your designated beneficiaries
during your lifetime.

Create a grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT).

Set up a family limited partnership (FLP) or family limited liability

only if the spread between the market price of the stock and the exercise
price will not put you into the AMT.

the suspended loss on that activity.

Pg 62

advantage of a donor-advised fund.

advantage of the best plans available to you prior to December 31, 2013.

However, this will cause a current tax liability.

for 2014 and beyond, the exclusion will be indexed for inflation).

company (FLLC).

Make loans to your beneficiaries at minimum required interest rates.

You want to provide for your
childrens and/or grandchildrens
college costs.

Establish and fund a 529 plan that can grow tax-free as long as you use
the funds to pay qualified education expenses.

Pg 90

If you anticipate that your 2013 income tax rate will be lower than
the 2014 rate, you can accelerate salary or bonuses into 2013. You
would need to determine if there are strict limitations on amounts
that can be accelerated. However, if the 2014 rate is lower than
your 2013 rate, it may make sense to defer such income until 2014.

December 31, 2013. Special transition rules allow taxpayers to recharacterize distributions made in January 2013, as though made
in 2012. Also, taxpayers may treat a distribution made from the
IRA in December 2012 as a charitable distribution if transferred
to the charity before February 1, 2013.

Capital Gains
Consulting or Other Self-Employment Income

The following ideas can lower your taxes this year:

If you are a cash-basis business, you can accelerate income into

2013, if your 2013 tax rate is anticipated to be lower than the 2014
rate. Otherwise, you would want to defer such income.

If you have unrealized net short-term capital gains, you can

Retirement Plan Distributions

If you are over age 59 1/2 and your tax rate is unusually low this
year, you can consider taking taxable distributions from your retirement plan even if they are not required, or consider a Roth IRA
conversion.

IRA Distributions to Charity

Tax-free distributions from individual retirement accounts (IRAs)
to public charities can be made by individuals age 70 1/2 and older,
up to a maximum of $100,000 per taxpayer per year through

sell the positions and realize the gains in 2013 if you expect
your 2014 tax rate to be higher. For example, this may be a
good strategy if the gain will be taxed at the AMT rate of 28%
this year but at 39.6% next year (exclusive of the additional
Medicare Contribution Tax). But you would only consider this
strategy if you do not otherwise intend to hold the position for
more than 12 months, making it eligible for the long-term capital
gain rate of 20% in 2013 and beyond, exclusive of the additional
Medicare Contribution Tax. However, you may be able to apply
the netting rule which may result in the offsetting of long-term
losses to short-term gains, resulting in a tax savings of 39.6%
rather than 20%.

tax tip

YEAR-END TAX TIPS

You will not be in the
AMT this year or next year
and your 2014 tax rate

You are in the AMT*

Nature of deduction
or income

will be the
same as
2013 or will
decrease

will
increase

only this
year

this year
and next
year

only next
year

Charitable contributions, mortgage interest,

investment interest and self-employed expenses

Prepay

Defer

Defer

Prepay

Prepay

State and local income taxes, real estate taxes,

and miscellaneous deductions that are not
deductible if you are in the AMT

Prepay

Defer

Defer

Defer

Prepay

Income such as bonuses, self-employed

consulting fees, retirement plan distributions,
and net short-term capital gains (unless you
have long-term losses offsetting the gains)

Defer

Collect

Collect

Defer

Defer

Miscellaneous itemized deductions bunched

(not deductible for the AMT) into a single year
to exceed the 2% AGI income floor

Prepay

Defer

Defer

Defer

Prepay

(Legend = Prepay before Dec. 31, 2013/Defer into 2014 or later/Collect before Dec. 31, 2013)

*The chart assumes your regular tax rate on ordinary income is higher than the maximum AMT tax rate of 28%.

tax planning goals

Cash Salaries or Bonuses

10
EisnerAmper 2013 personal tax guide

Review your portfolio to determine if you have any securities

that you may be able to claim as worthless, thereby giving you
a capital loss before the end of the year. A similar rule applies
to bad debts.

Consider a bond swap to realize losses in your bond portfolio.

This swap allows you to purchase similar bonds and avoid the
wash sale rule while maintaining your overall bond positions.

Similarly, you may consider selling securities this year to realize

long-term capital gains that may be taxed at the more favorable
rate this year, and then buying them back to effectively gain a
step-up in basis. Because the sales are at a gain, the wash sale
rules do not apply.
Real Estate and Other Non-Publicly Traded Property Sales
If you are selling real estate or other non-publicly traded property at
a gain, you would normally structure the terms of the arrangement
so that most of the payments would be due next year and you can
use the installment sale method to report the income. This would
allow you to recognize only a portion of the taxable gain in the
current year to the extent of the payments you received, thereby
allowing you to defer much of that tax to future years. However,
for 2012 transactions, you may instead accelerate the recognition
of the entire long-term capital gain into 2012, by electing out of
the installment sale treatment. This may be beneficial since the

long-term capital gains rate inclusive of the Medicare Contribution

Tax of 23.8% in 2013 and beyond is higher than the 2012 tax rate
of 15%, and thus you may save substantial taxes by accelerating
the gain into 2012. Since the election does not have to be made
until your 2012 tax return is filed in 2013, you do have time to
make this decision.

U.S. Treasury Bill Income

If you have U.S. Treasury Bills maturing early in 2014, you may
want to sell these bills to recognize income in 2013 if you expect
to be in a lower tax bracket this year than next year.

BUNCHING DEDUCTIONS
Bunching miscellaneous itemized deductions from two different
years into a single year may allow you to exceed the 2% of AGI
limitation that applies to these deductions. If you have already
exceeded the 2% floor, or will do so by prepaying some of next
years expenses now, prepay the following expenses by December
31, 2013 (assuming you will not be in the AMT this year):

Investment Expenses
These include investment advisory fees, custody fees, and investment publications.

tax tip

YEAR-END CAPITAL GAINS AND LOSSES

If you have

Consider taking these steps

Both short-term and

long-term losses

Sell securities to recognize unrealized gains, preferably if held short-term, up to the amount of
your losses less $3,000.

Long-term gains in excess

of short-term losses

Take losses equal to the net gain, plus $3,000. Use long-term loss positions first, then short-term
loss positions.

Both short-term and long-term

gains, or short-term gains in
excess of long-term losses

Take losses equal to the net gain, plus $3,000. Use long-term loss positions first to gain the
benefit of offsetting short-term gains (taxed at a rate as high as 39.6% plus 3.8% Medicare
Contribution Tax).

Worthless securities
and bad debts

Identify these securities and debts and take the necessary steps to ensure that the losses are
deductible in the current year, by having the proper substantiation.

Note: If you are married filing separately substitute $1,500 for $3,000 in the above tip.

11

The most common of these fees are income and gift/estate tax
planning and tax return preparation, accounting, and legal fees (to
the extent deductible).

dispose of the activity. Even if there is a gain on the disposition, you

can get the benefit of having the long-term capital gain taxed at
23.8% inclusive of the Medicare Contribution Tax with all the previously suspended losses offsetting ordinary income at a potential
tax benefit of 43.4% inclusive of the Medicare Contribution Tax.

Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses

These include business travel, meals, entertainment, vehicle
expenses and publications, all exclusive of personal use. You must
reduce expenses for business entertainment and meals (including those while away from home overnight on business) by 50%
before the 2% floor applies.

Medical Expenses
These expenses are only deductible if they exceed 7.5% of your
AGI in 2012. For 2013 and beyond, the threshold is 10%. For AMT
purposes, the threshold is 10%. Therefore, bunching unreimbursed
medical expenses into a single year could result in a tax benefit.
Medical expenses include health insurance and dental care. If you
are paying a private nurse or a nursing home for a parent or other
relative, you can take these expenses on your tax return even if you
do not claim the parent or relative as your dependent, assuming
you meet certain eligibility requirements.

ADJUST YEAR-END WITHHOLDING OR MAKE

ESTIMATED TAX PAYMENTS
If you expect to be subject to an underpayment penalty for failure
to pay your 2013 tax liability on a timely basis, consider increasing
your withholding and/or make an estimated tax payment between
now and the end of the year in order to eliminate or minimize the
amount of the penalty.

UTILIZE BUSINESS LOSSES

OR TAKE TAX-FREE DISTRIBUTIONS
It may be possible to deduct losses that would otherwise be limited
by your tax basis or the at risk rules. Or, you may be able to take
tax-free distributions from a partnership, limited liability company
or S corporation if you have tax basis in the entity and have already
been taxed on the income. If there is a basis limitation, consider
contributing capital to the entity or making a loan under certain
conditions.

INCENTIVE STOCK OPTIONS

Review your incentive stock option plans (ISOs) prior to yearend. A poorly timed exercise of ISOs can be very costly since
the spread between the fair market value of the stock and your
exercise price is a tax preference item for AMT purposes. Other
issues include avoiding a cash flow problem on the exercise of
options and funding taxes as a result of an exercise. You may wish
to consider accelerating the recognition of such income into 2013
if such rates are lower than the 2014 rates. This strategy can also
apply to nonqualified options.

ESTATE PLANNING
If you have not already done so, make your annual exclusion gifts
to your beneficiaries before the end of the year. For 2012, you were
allowed to make tax-free gifts up to $13,000 per year, per individual
($26,000 if you are married and use a gift-splitting election, or
each spouse gives $13,000 from his or her separate funds). For
2013, the annual exclusion is increased to $14,000 per individual
($28,000 if you are married and elect gift-splitting). By making
these gifts, you can transfer substantial amounts out of your estate
without using any of your lifetime exclusion. Also, try to make
these gifts early in the year to transfer that years appreciation
out of your estate. Further, because of the increased lifetime gift
exclusion, you may wish to make additional gifts to fully utilize such
exclusion of $5.25 million ($10.5 million for married couples) in
2013. Future exclusions are indexed for inflation. When combined
with other estate and gift planning techniques, such as a GRAT,
you could have the opportunity to avoid estate and gift taxes and
transfer a great deal of wealth to other family members who may
need financial assistance.

TAX STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Timing of Income and Deductions

PASSIVE LOSSES
If you have passive losses from a business that you do not materially participate in that are in excess of your income from these
types of activities, consider disposing of the activity. The tax savings can be significant since all losses become deductible when you

If you are a cash-basis business and expect that your 2013 tax
rate will be higher than your 2014 rate, you can delay billing until
January 2014 for services already performed, thereby deferring
your tax until next year. Alternatively, if you expect to be in a
higher tax bracket next year, or the AMT applies this year, you
can accelerate billing and collections into the current year to take
advantage of the lower tax rates.

tax planning goals

Professional Fees

12
EisnerAmper 2013 personal tax guide

Similarly, you can either prepay or defer paying business expenses

so that the deduction comes in the year that you expect to be
subject to the higher tax rate. This can be particularly significant
if you are considering purchasing (and placing in service) business
equipment. If you are concerned about your cash flow and want to
accelerate your deductions, you can charge them on your credit
card. This will allow you to take the deduction in the current year,
when the charge is made, even though you may actually pay the
outstanding credit card bill after December 31, 2013.

Business Equipment
Significant tax benefits are available for immediate expensing of
business equipment purchases in 2013. The 50% bonus depreciation is effective for qualified property placed in service in 2013.
Section 179 expensing rules allow you to fully deduct up to
$500,000 of qualifying property placed in service in 2013.
However, this rule only applies if the total amount of qualifying
property placed in service in 2013 does not exceed $2 million.

Business Interest
If you have debt traced to your business expenditures including
debt used to finance the capital requirements of a partnership, S
corporation or LLC involved in a trade or business in which you
materially participate you can deduct the interest above-theline as business interest rather than as an itemized deduction.
The interest is a direct reduction of the income from the business.
This lets you deduct all of your business interest, even if you are
a resident of a state that limits or disallows all of your itemized
deductions.
Business interest also includes finance charges on items that you
purchase for your business (as an owner) using your credit card.
These purchases are treated as additional loans to the business,
subject to tracing rules that allow you to deduct the portion of
the finance charges that relate to the business items purchased.
Credit card purchases made before year-end and paid for in 2014
are allowable deductions in 2013 for cash basis businesses.

Conclusion
Now more than ever, effective tax planning is crucial if one is to
achieve certain financial goals.

2013 personal tax guide

clickable table of contents

Click any title to view the chapter

or CLICK HERE to view the latest EisnerAmper Tax Articles and Resources
1. Tax Planning Strategies
2. Tax Rate Overview
3. Estimated Tax Requirements
4. Alternative Minimum Tax
5. Business Owner Issues and Depreciation Deductions
6. Capital Gains and Dividend Income
7. Stock Options, Restricted Stock and Deferred Compensation
8. Small Business Stock
9. Passive and Real Estate Activities
10. Principal Residence Sale and Rental
11. Charitable Contributions
12. Interest Expense
13. Retirement Plans
14. Estate and Gift Tax Planning
15. Tax Credits
16. Education Incentives
17. International Tax Issues and Reporting Requirements
18. State Tax Issues
Appendices
Appendix A: 2013 Federal Tax Calendar
Appendix B: 2012 Federal Tax Rate Schedules
Appendix C: 2012 Maximum Effective Tax Rates
Appendix D: EisnerAmper Tax and Private Business Service Partners and Principals

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