Tax Planning

The Best Tax Planning Strategies in the Post-Tax Reform Era: Our Experts Weigh In

The Best Tax Planning Strategies in the Post-Tax Reform Era: Our Experts Weigh In

The passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was always controversial, but that emotion certainly seems to be heating up as more people file their taxes for the new year. Regardless of how you feel about tax reform from a political perspective, three things are true. The TCJA will mean good news for some people and bad news for others. But the idea that applies to everyone is that planning for taxes just got significantly more complicated than it ever was.

Recently, we asked a series of financial professionals about what their best tax planning strategies were, not only for 2019, but for the post-tax reform world we’re now living in. Their responses helped shed valuable light on the situation we now collectively face, and the direction that things may be headed in over the next few years as well.

The Best Tax Planning Strategies for 2019 and Beyond

Joshua Standley of DKK Accounting said that one of the most important things people need to understand is that there’s no “one size fits all” approach to tax planning. This is especially true in a post-tax reform world, where even lifelong veterans of the industry are still working hard to track the type of changes that they’ll be forced to deal with in the new year.

“Strategies really depend on the client’s needs,” said Standley. “Each client has a unique situation that should be discussed in order to determine the best possible outcome.”

Elizabeth P. Davies of Taxes Untangled, Inc. took a more granular approach to her advice, choosing to focus on smaller issues that have a big impact on many people. “Because of the complexity of the Qualified Business Income deduction, having a CPA to work with is the best strategy,” she said. “There are so many conditions that have to be met that there isn’t a general rule anymore for the QBI. Since knowledge is all we sell, consumers should be aware that they have to pay for tax strategies.”

Allen Lenth of Executive Tax Solutions said that one of the keys to success in a post-tax reform world involves acknowledging that: A) things are still changing incredibly rapidly; and B) that you should plan accordingly. “I have tax planning software that allows my office, my clients and any other financial advisors my clients want to use to analyze every possible scenario we can think of and compare all the results to fit the outcomes we desire,” he said. He went on to say that, “we consider everything from putting the kids on the payroll for envelope stuffing to SEP IRAs for the owners and their employees. My goal is always to get my clients’ tax liabilities as close to zero as possible.”

Cliff Davis of Davis & Langford CPAs said that recently he’s been looking at combinations of best practices to help generate better outcomes for his clients. “For profitable small businesses, we like the combination of the S Corporation, the Solo 401(k) and the Sec 1999 Qualified Business Income deduction,” he said. “The S Corporation avoids double taxation, and when combined with a reasonable salary, yields lower employment taxes. The Solo 401(k) gets the maximum retirement contribution per administrative dollar at the lowest salary, again reducing payroll taxes. Finally, the QBI deduction is the icing on the cake.”

Indeed, Davis’ advice illustrates two important ideas that are essentially baked into the way that taxes are going to work from now on. The first is the idea that people are going to have to get creative to a certain extent. Tax reform means that the tried-but-true “rules” of yesteryear are no longer as effective as they once were.

The second is that this is not a journey that you can necessarily take alone, nor should you want to. Only by partnering with the right qualified financial professional will you stand the chance of maintaining compliance and paying the smallest tax liability possible moving forward.

Lee Reams II, writes for TaxBuzz, a tax news and advice website. Reach him at [email protected] or on LinkedIn

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Lee Reams II

Lee Reams II

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I am a tax and business news junkie who has spent the last 20 years developing and executing "best in class" word-of-mouth marketing campaigns for tax and accounting professionals. With TaxBuzz and CountingWorks we have taken that same commitment to quality content directly to the consumer. Keeping you up-to-date with the latest tax law changes, business growth tips and planning strategies to help you reach your best financial outcome.

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