Van Maanen & Associates, P.C., Certified Public Accountants
Helping You Put Financial Pieces Together
705 Main Street Pella, IA 50219 641-628-3737 info@vanmaanencpa.com
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Tax Strategies

Each person's situation is unique. So, you need to gather together the facts of your specific family and then begin to develop a tax strategy.

Items to consider:

Filing Status- Determining which filing status you qualify for and then which one is best for you is an important factor. The filing status's are; single, head of household, married and joint, or married but separate. Each have their advantage in specific situations.

Exemptions- Exemptions are $3,200 for 2005 and $3,300 for 2006.

Itemized Deductions- You can deduct your medical, taxes, inters, charities and job related expenses as "itemized deductions." It may be to your advantage to "tax plan" with these items by shifting them from one year to another tax year.

Marginal Rates-At certain levels of taxable income, the tax rates increase. This is commonly referred to as tax brackets. It therefor, could be to your advantage to shift income or expense from one year to another to keep yourself in a lower tax bracket.

Investment Strategy-There are times when you may want to buy or sell investments to take advantage of taxable gains or losses. Capital gain tax rates are better than ordinary income tax rates. Capital losses can be limited to $3000 per year.

Retirement Plans- These plans allow you to save money for retirement by deferring the income tax - earn it now but pay tax on it later. IRA'S, SIMPLES'S, 401(K)'s, Roth IRA's, etc. All have a place in tax strategy.

Education Costs- There are now tax benefits available to help pay for college and these also can help your tax strategy.

Business- If you own your business, the legal form of organization can help your tax strategy. A partnership versus a corporation, a C-corporation versus an S-corporation, an S-corporation versus a limited liability company, or a limited liability company versus a partnership-all effect tax strategy.

Home Office- More and more people are working out of their homes and therefore this can effect tax strategy.

To keep your income tax at a minimum, it takes good tax planning. If you would like for us to help with your tax strategy, please call us at 641-628-3737, or e-mail us at info@vanmaanencpa.com.

Disclaimer: These tips and strategies are for general information purposes only, and areĀ  not intended to provide professional tax advice. To determine how this or any other tax tips listed herein might apply to your specific tax situation, contact our office for more details and counsel.


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