Year-end Planning

Tax planning for the end of 2010 is a bit more difficult this year, because Congress has still not decided what the tax rates will be for 2011. This could be important for some people who can choose to accelerate income or deductions into 2010, or defer them until 2011. Kiplinger is still predicting that the 2010 tax rates will be carried over to 2011. That may be a workable assupmtion for many people, but nothing is certain until it actually happens.

Some of the current tax provisions may be worth reminders. One particularly nice one for those who can benefit from it is that long term capital gains for people in the 10% and 15% brackets are not taxed at all. That's right, 0% tax. The 0% rate applies up to $34,000 of taxable income for single people and $68,000 for married filing jointly.

Just to recap the Standard Deductions for 2010, they are:
$5,700 for Single
$8,400 for Head of Household
$11,400 for Married Filing Jointly
For people 65 and over:
$7,100 for Single
$9,800 for Head of Household
$12,500 for Mariied Filing Jointly


For year-end planning for your individaul situation, contact your tax professional!