Tax Planning for Individuals Quickfinder Handbook

Your trusted tax quick reference to tax planning for individuals

Tax rules change from year to year, and sometimes drastically. Whether it’s simply rates and amounts or the addition or expiration of new tax provisions, keeping ahead of clients is a challenge for any tax practitioner. And, many clients expect more from their tax practitioner than just preparing their tax returns. They want their practitioner to alert them to tax-saving ideas or simply be ready when they call with questions throughout the year.

Quickly find accurate and concise answers to all of your individual tax planning questions

The Tax Planning for Individuals Quickfinder Handbook provides quick answers to a broad range of individual tax planning topics. Unlike other tax planning publications, this Handbook presents the material using Quickfinder’s unique quick reference format that uses many charts, tables and examples plus plain-language descriptions of the tax-saving strategies.

With this Handbook, you’ll get:

• A broad range of tax planning ideas sure to reduce your individual clients’ federal tax burdens
• Numerous tables and charts with the most current information and amounts to help you quickly answer questions and determine which strategies apply to your clients
• A variety of real-life examples

See information above for new edition availability. To order the current or prior tax year editions, please call us at 800-431-9025.

• Tax Planning for Individuals Quickfinder Handbook 2020
  • Tax Planning for Individuals
  • Tab 1—Tables, Worksheets, & Client Handouts
    • Tax Legislation—December 2019
    • Tax Legislation—COVID-19 Relief
    • IRS’s Sample Language for Inclusion in QDROs
    • Client Handouts
      • Residences and Vacation Homes
      • Sole Proprietors
      • Compensation
      • Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds
      • Real Estate
      • Children
      • Education
      • Divorce
        • Dividing Retirement Accounts
        • Tax Filing in Year of Divorce
      • Retirement Plans
        • Small Business Retirement Plans
      • Other Taxes
        • 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax
        • Alternative Minimum Tax
      • Elderly
      • Estate and Gift Taxes
  • Tab 2—Roadmap to Individual Tax Savings
    • Introduction
  • Tab 3—Residences and Vacation Homes
    • Gain Exclusion—Sale of Principal Residence
    • Reduced Gain Exclusion
    • Residence Gain Exclusion—Other Issues
    • Qualified Principal Residence Debt Forgiven
    • Residences and Like-Kind Exchanges
    • Renting Out a Home
    • Home Classified as Rental Property
    • Timeshares and Co-Owned Vacation Homes
    • Converting a Residence to Rental or Investment Property
    • Energy Tax Credits for Homeowners
  • Tab 4—Sole Proprietors
    • Evaluating Sole Proprietorships
    • Self-Employment (SE) Tax
    • Family Income Shifting
    • Business Use of Automobiles
    • Auto Depreciation Rules
    • Credits for Plug-In Vehicles
    • Buying vs. Leasing a Vehicle
    • Business Bad Debts
    • Meals and Entertainment
    • Travel
    • Tangible Property—Capitalization Rules
    • Maximizing Depreciation Deductions
    • Section 179 Deduction
    • Special (Bonus) Depreciation
    • Hobby Losses
    • Business Use of a Home
    • Start-Up Costs
    • Deducting Health Insurance Premiums
    • Medical Reimbursement Plans
    • Health Savings Accounts
    • Understanding the Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction
    • Optimizing the QBI Deduction
    • Generating Cash From COVID-19 Legislation
  • Tab 5—Compensation
    • Nonqualified Deferred-Compensation Plans
    • Section 409A Rules
    • Restricted Stock
    • Section 83(b) Election
    • Stock-Based Compensation
    • Incentive Stock Options (ISOs)
    • AMT Aspects of ISOs
    • Nonqualified Stock Options (NQSOs)
  • Tab 6—Stocks, Bonds, and Mutual Funds
    • Capital Gain Rules
    • Qualified Dividend Tax Rate
    • Taxable vs. Tax-Exempt Returns
    • Treasury Bills
    • Discount Bonds
    • Premium Bonds
    • U.S. Savings Bonds
    • Private Activity Bonds and AMT
    • Inflation-Indexed Bonds
    • Stocks—Share Identification and Holding Periods
    • Small Business (Section 1244) Stock Losses
    • Qualified Small Business Stock
    • Wash Sales
    • Worthless Securities
    • Fraud and Embezzlement Losses
    • Stock Dividends and Stock Splits
    • Constructive Sales
    • Investors vs. Traders
    • Mutual Funds
    • Calls and Puts
  • Tab 7—Real Estate
    • Real Property Depreciation
    • Cost Segregation
    • Leasehold Improvements
    • Tax Rates on Real Property Sales
    • Installment Sales
    • Escrow Accounts
    • Like-Kind Exchanges
    • Like-Kind Exchanges With Boot
    • Property Received in a Like-Kind Exchange
    • Deferred Like-Kind Exchanges
    • Foreclosure or Repossession of Borrower’s Property
    • Passive Loss Limits on Rental Real Estate
  • Tab 8—Children
    • How Children Are Taxed
    • When Does the Kiddie Tax Apply?
    • Tax Rates Under the Kiddie Tax for 2018 and 2019
    • Investments That Minimize the Kiddie Tax
    • Transferring Assets to Children
    • Employing a Child
    • Funding a Child’s IRA
    • Below-Market Loans to Children
  • Tab 9—Education
    • The College Financial Aid System
    • Financial Aid—Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
    • Financial Aid and College Planning
    • Transferring Assets to the Student
    • Borrowing to Pay Education Costs
    • Using Retirement Funds for Education
    • U.S. Savings Bonds
    • Education Tax Credits
    • Education Savings Accounts
    • Qualified Tuition (Section 529) Programs
    • Student Loan Cancellations and Repayment Assistance
  • Tab 10—Divorce
    • Divorce-Related Property Transfers
    • Transferring Ownership in a Closely Held Business
    • Dividing Retirement Accounts
    • Alimony
    • Alimony Recapture for Pre-2019 Divorces
    • Divorced Couples With Children
    • Year of Divorce—Community Property Issues
    • Year of Divorce—Equitable Distribution States
    • Tax Withholding and Estimated Payments
    • Issues Related to the Marital Residence
    • Divorce Not Final—Joint vs. Separate Returns
  • Tab 11—Charitable Giving
    • Basic Rules
    • Maximizing Charitable Deductions
    • Tangible Personal Property
    • Stock Donations
    • Real Property
    • Other Property
    • Out-of-Pocket Expenses
    • Bargain Sales
    • Donor-Advised Funds
    • Private Family Foundations
    • Charitable Trusts
    • Substantiating Charitable Donations
  • Tab 12—Retirement Plans
    • Traditional IRAs
    • Roth IRAs
    • Evaluating IRA Options
    • Roth IRA Conversion
    • Rollovers From Employer Plans To a Roth IRA
    • SIMPLE IRAs
    • SEP Plans
    • Profit-Sharing Plans
    • Designated Roth Accounts
    • 401(k) Plans
    • Choosing the Retirement Plan
    • Required Minimum Distributions
    • Retirement Accounts Inherited By Surviving Spouses
    • Planning Opportunities for Inherited Retirement Accounts
    • Avoiding the Penalty Tax on Early Distributions
    • Borrowing From a Qualified Plan
  • Tab 13—AMT and NIIT
    • 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax
    • Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) Planning Considerations
    • Additional 0.9% Medicare Tax on Earnings
    • Alternative Minimum Tax
    • AMT Planning Considerations
  • Tab 14—Elderly and Disabled
    • Planning for Illness/Disability
    • Long-Term Care Costs
    • In-Home Health Care Costs
    • Continuing Care Retirement Communities
    • LTC Insurance Proceeds
    • Life Insurance—Accelerated Death Benefits
    • Life Insurance—Sales and Surrenders
    • Social Security and Medicare
    • Planning for Decedent’s Final Return
    • Qualified ABLE Programs
  • Tab 15—Estate and Gift Tax
    • Overview of Estate and Gift Tax
    • Estate Tax Calculation
    • Gift Tax Rules
    • Gift Tax Planning
    • Gifts to Minors
    • Trusts for Minors
    • Lifetime Gifts vs. Transfers at Death
    • Wills
    • Additional Estate Planning Documents
    • Pros and Cons of Probate
    • Probate Estate vs. Taxable Estate
    • Planning to Avoid Probate
    • Revocable Living Trusts
    • Marital Deduction Planning
    • Marital Trusts
    • QTIP Trusts
    • Bypass (Credit Shelter) Trusts
    • A-B Trust Structure
    • Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
    • Family Limited Partnerships
  • Back Cover

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