Tax Planning

When Is Your IRA Distribution Taxable?

It is year-end. Retirement account owners and beneficiaries are grappling with required distributions for 2013 and, in some cases, with missed distributions from prior years. When there is a missed distribution, we constantly get the question, “Do I have to do an amended tax return?” The answer is, “No.”Distributions from retirement accounts are taxable to the recipient in the year in which the funds come out of the account. Read more for some examples.

3 Ways to Give to Charity in 2013

Ed Slott and Company IRA Technical Consultant Jeffrey Levine lays out 3 different ways you can give to charity in 2013, how charitable giving can help you at tax time and key strategies to take advantage of before the end of the year. It's December, so with that in mind, we lay out 3 ways you can give to charity in 2013.

3 Tips When Planning for a Special Needs Child

Does one of your clients have a special needs child? Are you starting to plan yourself for a special needs child? Jeffrey Levine details 3 tips you should follow when planning for a special needs child.

Year-End Roth Conversion Question-And-Answer

It's that time of year. The leaves are falling. The holidays are coming. And retirement planning quickly turns to year-end conversion questions. To help the financial advisor-client team with your year-end Roth conversion planning, we have assembled a FAQ list below.

The Government Shutdown Could Cause You Tax Problems

For over a week now, the federal government has been partially shut down - what some news outlets have called a slim down - thanks to Congress' inability to come together on any sort of agreement that would have prevented, or at least delayed the issue at hand.

Video Alert: IRS, Taxes and Same-Sex Married Couples

The Slott Report has extensively looked at IRS' DOMA guidance as it relates to taxes, IRAs and same-sex married couples through IRS Rev. Ruling 2013-17. Now, we have put all key points into a video alert at Ed Slott and Company's YouTube Page, IRAtv. The video below with Ed Slott and Company IRA Technical Consultant Jeffrey Levine talks about the tax and retirement planning issues related to Rev. Ruling 2013-17.

IRS Issues DOMA Ruling

On August 29th, IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2013-17 to clarify some of the federal tax issues raised by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Windsor case. In case you have not been keeping up with the news for the last couple of months, the Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) was unconstitutional thus making same-sex marriages “legal” at the federal level. The Court’s decision left the definition of marriage up to the individual states.

Japanese Estate Tax Rate Proposal vs. Current U.S. Law

The Japanese prime minister has come up with a new estate tax rate proposal that is far different than current United States estate tax law. Ed Slott and Company IRA Technical Consultant Jeffrey Levine looks at the Japanese proposal and how it compares to U.S. law (along with some helpful information on the United States' estate tax benefits) in the IRAtv video found at this link or embedded below.

Slott Report Mailbag: What Does the Tax Code Deem a Personal Exemption?

This week's Slott Report Mailbag discusses several topics dealing with the 2013 tax laws, including limits on personal exemptions and the gift tax exemption. Several of these questions require complete understanding of NEW tax laws, so make sure your financial advisor is verse in the latest tax law updates.

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