2022 Year End Tax Strategies

Intro: Welcome to Christian Financial Perspectives, where you’re invited to gain insight, wisdom, and knowledge about how Christians integrate their faith life and finances with a biblical worldview. Here’s your host, Christian investment advisor, financial planner, and coach, Bob Barber. Shawn: Welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. I wanna give you a quick warning for those of you who may wanna turn away, because today’s program could save you several to many thousands of dollars in taxes. So, you don’t wanna listen if you like paying more in taxes than you need to. So we’ll give you guys just a couple seconds to turn away or turn off the episode. All right, If you’re still, here we go, Bob. Bob: I guess they wanna save money on taxes. Shawn: I guess they wanna save money on taxes. Bob: All right. And before we get started, it’s important to know that these tax strategies that we’re gonna give you today, I would run ’em through a CPA, a qualified tax expert or an accountant before you do them for you personally. So every one of these, some will apply, some won’t, but I have a feeling out of the 10 that we’re gonna share today that you are going to find one or two of them that actually will save you a thousand or two in taxes. So this next 30 minutes that we’re gonna go through this, I don’t know if it’s gonna take that long, but it is gonna take a while, is worth about a thousand an hour. So I would definitely stay tuned cuz you will see some ideas that we’re gonna give you that are good ones. Shawn: And for those watching online, you should be able to jump to the chapters. So if you wanna just quickly see which of these looks like they apply, just jump down into that. Bob: That’s a new thing I didn’t know you could do. Oh, okay. All right. Shawn: It’s fancy. Bob: So one of the things that is important, before we get to the strategies is to understand the standard deduction that all of us receive, whether we’re married, single, or a head of a household. And let me define the head of a household. Somebody that would not be married but maybe has a child. So they have a dependent, All right, so for 2022, the standard deduction for a single filer not married is $12,950. That means that you get that deduction right off the bat. I guess I’m trying to, if that’s the right term to say. The next for a married couple, that standard deduction is $25,900 for this year. So, that’s much higher. And of course it’s gonna be double, basically what a single filer. And then the head of a household is $19,400, Shawn: Like you said. So say single mom or dad with a dependent. Bob: Right. Correct. And taxpayers who are at least 65 years old or blind, it was interesting in looking that up, will be able to claim an additional $1,400 in the standard deduction on top of these numbers that I just gave you. If you’re single or head of a household, it’s $1,750. Plus, even more, you can also declare even more if you happen to live in a disaster area. Florida had the hurricane hit this year. So if you had a qualifying disaster in your area, like a hurricane or a wildfire, like we always see happening in California or the west, you can add more to that standard deduction. Now this is important to know what this standard deduction is because as we get into tax strategy number one, less itemized deductions total more than the standard deductions, you don’t even need to itemize. Shawn: Right. It’s just a waste of time. Bob: Yes it is. So we’re gonna go over these itemized deductions and how important it is that you understand what you can itemize and will it total more than these initial numbers that I gave you. Garrett, If you would put those initial numbers right up one more time so people can see that before we get into this. So if you see those numbers there, the first tax strategy, number one for 2022, and this is a year end strategy, you gotta do these strategies before the year end. So we’re coming to you and giving this to you in November, cuz you still got some time left to do these strategies. So go with that first one, Shawn. Shawn: So the first one is lumping together itemized deductions that you can. So you wanna lump as many of the qualified itemized deductions as you can into one year to get over that standard deduction threshold. And I mean, obviously try to do this I guess every other year at least. Bob: Well, it depends, and I was thinking about this for myself, cause that first one we’ve got is property taxes. So the max that you can use towards the itemized deduction is $10,000 in property tax. Okay. Well, property taxes on my home are that much already. So if I wanted… Shawn: Welcome to Texas. Bob: Where taxes are very high. Californians, they’re moving here by the thousands. They get here and they go, Oh my goodness, I never knew property taxes were that high, but they’re very high in Texas. So it wouldn’t make sense for me to lump my two together. Right? Shawn: Now Bob, that’s $10,000 for the property filing jointly. So if you’re single, it’s $5,000 or you did married filing separately, it’s $5,000. Bob: But Shawn, I don’t know what your property taxes are, but I don’t think they’re $10,000. Shawn: No, they’re $5,500. Bob: So for you, it would make sense to pay your property tax twice in one year. Because that’d be $11,000. You’d get to claim 10 of that 11. Shawn: Right. Bob: I hope this makes sense to listening to audience. Shawn: So what you’re saying on trying to lump them together every other year, depending on the situation. So in my case, since I’m barely over that $10,000 that I’m allowed for the property tax, it doesn’t really help much to go with the itemized deductions versus the standard deductions because it’s just not enough, right? Bob: Correct. Correct. But there’s other things that you can add on top of that. Gotcha. Shawn: Okay. Bob: So you’ll wanna pay your property taxes on January 1st and December 31st, . And what I mean by that is for you, Shawn, is take 2022. You pay your property taxes on January 1st, 2022 and you pay your 23 property taxes on December 31st, 2022. Shawn: Okay. Bob: So that’s gonna give you, now you’ve gotta add on top of that to get above your standard deduction. And the things that you can add on top of that would be mortgage interest. Shawn: Right. Bob: Now you can’t lump some of your mortgage interest two years into one, but the mortgage… Shawn: Because it’s only once paid. Bob: That’s correct. Right. So let’s say your mortgage interest was another $10,000, now you’re up to $20,000. That’s getting close to that standard deduction. Shawn: Right? Bob: On top of that, if you’re a tither and you know have a hundred thousand dollars income and you’re giving $10,000 to the church, now you’re at 30 thousand, that’s 10,000. Right? Shawn: So now, just from really, I guess you’d say those three things. Bob: Those three things. Shawn: Mortgage interest, the paying both years of property tax in the same year, and the charitable giving, you’re already over the standard deduction. Bob: So now it makes sense. But next year, if you did that for 2023, you wouldn’t get to that, above that, because you paid your taxes for 2023 on December 31st. Shawn: I could pay 2024 maybe early. But yeah, it doesn’t really matter at that point. Bob: So it’s real important how you look at your itemized deductions. And that’s why I’m spending, I knew this would take some time, and you have other deductions on top of this. I know y’all had a baby this last year, and you can take 7.5% of your income, depending on what you spent on the health cost and 7.5% of that against your adjusted gross income. And we’re gonna get into that here in a minute. But that can go towards your itemized deduction. Shawn: That would be another one to keep in mind then of the standard deduction versus the itemized is did you have a new addition to the family? Bob: Yeah. So we’re gonna go to the second year end tax strategy for 2022. Shawn: Which is maxing out your qualified plans. So this, for example, maxing out your contributions to your qualified retirement plan at work. So maybe your employer has a 401k, 403b, 457, TSP plan. There’s a bunch of different ones. So you wanna make sure you max out your contributions to those before the end of the year. Bob: And they all have the same rules. Basically the 401k, 403b, 457, TSP, they all have the exact same rules of the amount that you can put into them. Now, this is the number one strategy I see that people don’t do. We’ve got your typical earner making 70 to 100k a year, your 40 year old making this much, and they’re putting 3% of their salary into their 401k. And that’s it. So they’re putting 3000 in. Shawn: And it’s also common because depending on the employer, it’s on average anywhere from 3% to 6% for a match match. So that’s why for a lot of people, they just do whatever the match is, but you can do more. Bob: Yeah, A lot more. Shawn: A lot more. And like you said, this is something that we have clients save thousands of dollars on their taxes by doing this because number one, most of us need to be saving more towards our retirement anyway. And for 2022, you can contribute up to $20,500 towards a 401k, 403b, the federal thrift savings plan. Plus if you’re 50 or older, you can do another $6,500 on top of that. Now, for a lot of people, $20,500, and especially if you have the $6,500 on top of that, a lot of people, that’s not 3%. That’s more than 3%. Bob: Oh, a whole lot more. But you could get that full amount. Shawn: That still reduces your taxable income. Bob: That’s right. You can put that full amount. So I’m not saying, some people might say, I put $3000 and I don’t have any more money to put in, but if you do, maybe if you had $10,000 more, that $10,000 if you’re in a 20% effective tax bracket, okay, you’ve just saved $2,000 in taxes. We’ve just made this program worth it to you. Shawn: You got all your money back on the investment, which was free to watch this. Bob: That’s an example. And I meet a lot of individuals that are 55 to 60 or 65 that do need to max out their plans and they’re just nowhere near that $27,000 that they can put in. That’s on their side. That’s not saying the employers are gonna match that much. But they’re just only a percentage. Shawn: One, not catch, if you will, one thing just to keep in mind is for a lot of people they may be contributing to – are you listening, watching – maybe contributing to your 401K as a Roth contribution, not as a tax… Bob: Tax deduction. Shawn: Thank you. Traditional, more traditional type contribution. So obviously if you did this full $27,000, but you were contributing as a Roth, that’s not gonna save taxes now. So just kind of throw that out there. Make sure you know how you’re contributing. Bob: And I have my opinion opinion on Roths and I’m not gonna share that right now. Shawn: Okay. And we’ll save that for another time. Bob: It can be a favorable and a negative opinion on both. Year end tax strategy number three for 2022. Shawn: Large year end gifts to charities. Bob: Give a large yearend gift to your charity before the end of the year or you can fund a donor advised fund if you don’t want to give that all to the charity right now. And that’s a tax deduction. Also, lump your charitable giving into one year if you can. Shawn: A lot of these are if you can. Bob: So because that’s gonna add on top of your itemized deductions. Shawn: So for example, similar to the property tax scenario, that if you want, if you can afford it within your cash flow, whatever you would normally give to the charity or the church in the current year, do that plus what you would give the next year. That way you can get those deductions a little higher. Bob: Before the end of the year. And if you say, Well, I don’t want to give that all to the church right now, like I say, you could use a donor advised fund and then a donor advised fund could give it month by month. Shawn: So a little slower overtime. Bob: Yep. Which it’s the same thing, but you’re saving a lot on taxes. That could be worth for a $100,000 income earner or $200,000, again, this is another $2,000 or $3,000 in tax savings. I mean so far, some of the things I’ve mentioned we’re up to $7,000 or $8,000 in tax savings already. And we’re at tax strategy number three. Shawn: When you’re talking about the gifts to charities and churches. I mean, it’s money that you were planning on giving anyway. So why not do it now, whether it’s a lump sum or the charitable get annuity, because either way you still get to deduct a full amount. Bob: Now I’m scared about this next tax strategy, Shawn, because I know y’all are looking at a car now. Shawn: So number four is sales tax. Buy that new car if you need one. Now, we’ve been looking at buying a car for a while, it still hadn’t worked out yet, but we are doing our very best to remain diligent and not get emotional and fall into the, “I just want it now.” Bob: Yeah. Exactly. So I know y’all have been looking a very, very long time, and I’m proud of you that you’ve really taken your time and not let your emotions get involved in it, because that can get so involved in it. Shawn: And we’re definitely looking at the new car, not just for this strategy before. Bob: And this just applies. Shawn: Also, used car prices have been crazy for a while. Bob: So this applies towards a new car. So the sales tax that you pay on that car, and cars are so expensive today. $40,000 or $50,000. That sales tax is deductible. But in a state like California where you have income tax, if you have an income tax, the income tax can be deductible towards your federal tax, but you can’t take sales tax and income tax, in my research. Shawn: Gotcha. All right. So for those of us in a state like Texas or other states that don’t have a state income tax, well yeah, use the sales tax and deduct that. Bob: All right. So we’re nearly halfway through our 10 tax strategies. The year end tax strategy number five for 2022 is maxing out your HSA or your Health Savings Account, if you haven’t done that. That’s a pure deduction on the very front of your tax return. The amount that you can put into a Health Savings Account this year for an individual is $3,650. Or if you’re a family, you can put $7,300 into an HSA plan and if you’re above 55, add… Shawn: There’s another thousand dollars. Bob: Add another thousand on that. So that’s good. And the good news is these numbers are going up again next year. Shawn: Well, and also what’s great is the money you’re putting into that, unlike man, you feel sometimes the insurance premiums you pay every month just feels like a waste. Well, at least with the Health Savings Account, the money that you’re putting into that, you then get to use for medical expenses towards your deductibles. So whatever it is, at least this is money that you’re not just kind of throwing at the insurance company, but you actually get to use it. It’s a deduction and you get to use it. Bob: Correct. And you can use that for things, even a chiropractor or going to your dentist. All right. So that’s the first five. So now let’s get to your tax strategy number six. Shawn: Six. Medical procedures. So go ahead and get those elective or mandatory medical procedures done before the end of the year if possible. So for example, eyes, maybe just getting new glasses or corrective surgery, maybe something for your teeth, for dental. Maybe you’ve been putting off getting those hearing aids. I said maybe you’ve been putting off those hearing aids, things like that. Bob: Got mine right here. Shawn: Making sure Bob’s are working. But you may only deduct the amount of your total medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Can you maybe re-say that again, but in a way our listeners can understand? Bob: Well, I’ll say it slowly. You can only deduct the total medical expenses that exceeds 7.5% of your gross income. Right. Gross income’s a hundred thousand. I always use that. It’s a nice, easy number. Shawn: It’s a nice easy number. Bob: Yeah. So $7,500, your medical expenses are not gonna be deductible for that first $7,500. Shawn: It’s basically a standard medical deduction. Almost. Bob: Correct. Right. Shawn: So unless it’s more than that, there’s anything to deduct. Bob: I’m gonna ask Garrett, if you’ll put what we have in our notes here. There’s a website on the IRS.gov/taxtopics/TC502. He’ll put that up here, up there, so you can see that. And you can go to that. And that tells you about the medical procedures because it really is very, very detailed. And I thought that would be good. All right, we’re getting to… Shawn: Number seven. All right. Business equipment. So if you own a business, buy any necessary business equipment you’re going to need or were thinking about upgrading to in the near future, before the end of the year. So by December 31st. So for example, for us in a regular office building – computers new copier, copiers, office furniture, furnishings, even business automobiles. All of those types of things are deductible then for 2022. Bob: And I’m a big believer in this one, a big believer. Shawn: I remember growing up, my dad who was in mining and excavation, went into site prep and now he’s still doing farming. But I remember every year he would talk about how many tires he bought cuz they knew they were gonna use them. But when you’re using big equipment like that, those tires can head up real quick. Bob: So while this doesn’t apply to the majority of listeners, those that are business owners, it does apply and definitely use this tax strategy. It’s a great tax strategy, and I’ve been using it for years. Shawn: And that applies Bob, even you don’t have to have a whole bunch of employees. I mean, if you’re self-employed, and you mostly work as an independent contractor for companies, there’s still stuff if you wanted to get that new computer working at home I mean, there’s a lot of things you can sell. Bob: Right here. We’re going over this, my Dell computer right here. I’m not trying to advertise for them, but this is about a four or five year old computer and it’s gonna be time for an upgrade soon. And so, I’m not going to, but you could consider upgrading to your new laptop that you carry with you. Shawn: Let’s get into number eight. Tax loss harvesting. Especially this year so far in 2022, we have been in a bear market. You’ve been in a bear market. So now’s the time to do that. Bob: That involves looking at your holdings and selling them off. So you have a paper loss. Now if you do that, as markets moved so fast. Again, as we’re sitting here, in the last two days, the market’s gone up 5%, three yesterday and it’s gone up two right now. Who knows what it’s gonna close at today. That’s an example. So if you do exit the market, get back in immediately to something else. Shawn: In this case, we’re not saying to sell your investments to take those to realize those losses so you have ’em on paper and just sit in cash, because then you’re running the risk of the markets moving up. Bob: And losing your rebound. Shawn: And missed out on that opportunity. So you’re selling it, but you need to move into something different for at least that 30, Or is it, It’s 31. Bob: Well, make it 31. Shawn: You make it 31 to be safe. Bob: You wanna make it safe. Make it 32 days. If you have a holding you really like, and you’re looking at a paper loss right now, sell it. Go into a like kind of holding, not exactly the same. You gotta be careful. Cause there’s some IRS rules here. And I would, again, talk to your qualified tax account, tax professional about this. But you can go out of that security for at least 32 days and then come back in. But I would go into a security that responds the same to the markets so that you don’t miss out on the upswing. Shawn: So for example, if you’re mostly equities, you’re an aggressive or aggressive growth type of a fund and you’re in 98% stocks, don’t sell all of your stock positions for a loss and move into a bunch of fixed income. Bob: Cause they’re not gonna rebound the same. Shawn: Because that’s not gonna function the same. So that’s the main thing is don’t buy the same thing, but you want to buy something at least a similar asset class. Bob: And now you have that paper loss that you can use towards future gains for when you’re rebalancing. And those are carry over too. So now you could take up to $3,000 in one year if you don’t have anything to go against it, but if you have a paper loss on paper, say $30,000 and you had gains of $30,000, they go against one another. There’s no tax due on that gain because you had the loss that went against it. So they’re really good to put that in your bank right now, especially during a bear market. So that was tax strategy number eight. Just a couple more to go. Shawn: To go that 31 days. Well technically wait 32 to be safe. Bob: Yeah. I like the 32. Shawn: The reason for that, too, which is very important for everyone tuning in, is that if you don’t hold something else for at least that minimum time, then it becomes a wash sale and whatever the tax losses that you incurred, they get washed out. You don’t get to use them. Bob: You don’t get to use them. The IRS won’t let you use them. Yep, that’s right. Shawn: So number nine. Bob: Number nine. Shawn: RMDs directly to charity. Now this is an interesting one because we do have a lot of clients that do this. For IRAs that you get to age 72 and you gotta start doing your required minimum distributions, because ole Uncle Sam wants his tax money. So when you get to that point, if you don’t actually need that money for income, you have different options. You could take the money and you could put it back in a different investment account or a different account. You don’t have to technically spend it, Bob: But you have to pay tax on it. Shawn: But you’ll pay tax on it. So the other option, if you really don’t need it, but you have to take it, you can take it as a qualified charitable distribution or QCD . Now the benefit to that is you don’t pay tax on it. You still meet that require required minimum distribution and it goes to a charity of your choice. So, it’s nice. Bob: I actually tell our age 72 year and older that don’t need theRMD to live on to use their RMD for their tithe towards their church. Shawn: Yeah. Bob: Yeah. Because if you take it as cash and then tithe, it may not be deductible. Shawn: Right. Bob: Because it’s gotta get above, again, the standard deduction. So it’s a great thing to do and you can really give a lot. It doesn’t just have to be your RMD, you can go up to a hundred thousand dollars per person if you wanted to, if you’re that charitable. Shawn: Yeah, there’s a couple clarifications on that. So obviously the charity has to be a qualified 501c3 organization. Bob: That’s correct. That’s right. Shawn: So you can’t just say it’s charity. The other thing is you can’t also take the charitable deduction. So no double dipping. Bob: Yeah. Cause it’s gone through the charity. You can’t take that as a deduction. Shawn: Right, exactly. So that’s what you mean by the double dipping, Bob: Right. That’s correct. That’s right. All right, we’re down to our last one and this is a real big one with me. Shawn: Number 10, income timing. So think strategically about income payouts if possible. Consider delaying income until next year if it’s really high this year and you don’t think it will be next year. So remember, this is a year end tax strategy and it’s really only a good idea if you think your income will be lower next year. So Bob, maybe you give us an example. Bob: Well, I’m gonna give you an example. Me personally. I could have delayed my income last year, but I kind of knew a bear market was coming because we’d been in a bull market for so long. So there’s an example of timing income, because in a bear market, my income’s gonna be lower. In a bear market, it’s gonna be, I mean in a bull market, it’s gonna be higher. And another example with this would be a retiree. So a retiree has a big bonus coming at the end of this year and he’s gonna retire in April of next year and his income’s gonna be much lower, right? He needs to ask his company, can I delay this bonus until 2023 instead of right now? Because then it’s gonna even your income out. Because remember, the one thing you’re trying to do is to keep yourself from going into higher tax brackets. Remember the more you make, the more the government wants, contrary to popular belief that the wealthy don’t pay their fair share. That is a pure lie. All right? All you gotta do is look at any tax table and the more you make, the higher percentage you pay. As an example. You’ll take somebody that makes $100,000, their tax burden may be $10,000 or $15,000. Okay? You take somebody that makes $400,000, their tax burden’s not four times that amount, it’s like eight times that amount. Eight or nine times that amount. Shawn: And I say that because I handle bookkeeping, everything for the business here. And so part of that kind of falls into helping you with your taxes. And I don’t really want to even mention the taxable amount, but I can tell you the people that make more money pay not just percentage wise, but just across the board, they pay more taxes. So don’t listen when you hear media and politicians talk about, “Oh, the wealthy don’t pay their fair share.” No, no. They pay their fair share, your fair share, my fair share, plus everybody else’s. So that income timing is really, it’s a really great tip. And that’s something, again, especially if you have someone who’s looking at retiring next year or just based on what’s going on with the business, maybe they’re in more of a sales position and they just don’t see that it’s gonna be as good the next year, and you got that bonus coming. Ask your employer, Hey, can you pay me in January? Bob: Except the employer might want the deduction. Shawn: They might. So that’s a discussion to have with the employer. Bob: And so we’ve gone over these 10 strategies and all these need a lot of advice to go with them. Don’t just take what we said today at face value, get with a Certified Financial Planner or your accountant or tax professional, and look at each one of these for your individual situation. We are here to help you with this. We do have a CPA on board now, but I’m not going to recommend any of these strategies for you unless they were to talk to you personally and know your financial situation. Shawn: Yeah. Because again, as we’ve said for all of these, these are options. They may not all apply, but we have a feeling that if you’re watching or listening to this, that probably a couple of them will apply. But you still need to look at your individual situation. Bob: And we’re here to help. During business hours, you can give us a call at (830) 609-6986. You can also text that number or you can go on our website to www.christianfinancialadvisors.com. Shawn: Yep. Thanks again for joining us and God bless. Outro: We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes, covering many financial topics from a Christian perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes. You can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Amazon Music to learn more about integrating your faith with your finances. Visit Christianfinancialadvisors.com or call (830) 609-6986. Disclosures: Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors, Inc DBA Christian Financial Advisors® also known as Christian Financial Advisors® Management Group, a registered investment advisor. Comments from today’s show for informational purposes only, and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the host Bob Barber and his guests. Bob does not provide tax advice and encourages you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Investment Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.