2011 Q4 A Year of Uncertainty?

2011 Q4 A Year of Uncertainty?

Officially, year-end tax planning is fairly straightforward in 2011. At year-end 2010, Congress extended many of the income tax laws that were in place at the time. Some laws were changed, especially in the estate planning area. For the most part, the tax law passed at the end of last year is effective for two years: 2011 and 2012. Therefore, you may expect to plan for year-end 2011 and for 2012 with some certainty. As this issue is written, however, the news from Washington is far from certain. President Obama and Congressional leaders are attempting to resolve federal budget and debt issues. Tax changes are possible, and such changes may affect year-end planning in 2011. Our office will keep you

2011 Q4 Year-End Tax Planning for Investors

2011 Q4 Year-End Tax Planning for Investors

Stocks performed reasonably well for much of 2011 but fell precipitously after the downgrading of the United States’ credit rating. As of this writing, the investment outlook for 2011 is quite uncertain. Despite that fact, there are things you can do with your portfolio by year-end to reduce the tax you’ll owe for 2011. Start by reviewing Schedule D of the federal income tax return you filed for 2010. See if you are carrying over any net capital losses from previous years. The next step is to tally your trading activity for 2011 so far. You can determine if you are in a net capital gain or loss position for the year to date. Example 1: Jane Collins is carrying