When it comes to filing taxes in April, it is tempting to put this off and not think about it until the deadline is looming, but some proactive evaluations and action steps taken now can help to minimize your tax liability and give you a jumpstart on the planning process.
The end of the year is a great time to look at your financial strategy overall. Once you know what you’ve achieved this year and the expenses and liabilities you might have impacted over the year, too, you can make better planning decisions going forward.
There are opportunities to decrease your tax bill through things like charitable giving, tax loss harvesting, 401(k) contributions or Roth IRA conversions. This is also a good opportunity, however, to see whether or not any filing updates or account specific changes have been made in your IRS account.
You can look at your online IRS account to see whether or not there are any notices, balances due, payments or other details. If you find mistakes, make sure to contact the IRS before the end of year. Many accountants are reporting that the IRS is months and even years behind on processing material, so it is possible you might not have received tax notifications if you moved or if things got delayed or lost in the mail.
Checking online is one of the easiest ways to see if your tax account is up to date. This is also a good opportunity to discuss whether any adjustments need to be made to your retirement plans and your estate plans. As the end of the years closes out, you can make changes to these materials by consulting with a knowledgeable estate planning lawyer in Pasadena.
