Is the Tax Code Changing? - 87

Joe Anderson, CFP® and Alan Clopine, CPA discuss a brief history of the tax code and where it might be headed in YMYW podcast episode 87. Find out some possible tax exemptions and deductions under Trump’s presidency; plus, key tax strategies to take advantage of now before the tax code could change. Original publish date December 3, 2016 (hour 1). Note that content may be outdated as rules and regulations have changed.

02:35 “Over the decades, Congress simply amended the tax system by adjusting and assessing new taxes in a series of 17 internal revenue acts.  By 1939, the series of tax rules became the first formal internal revenue code. 15 years later was the first real tax reform….tax rates got as high as 91%.”

03:51 “It was in the Fifties that the alternative minimum tax came into play, and that was really designed for the wealthiest of people.”

05:50 “There’s Trump’s plan, and then there’s the GOP plan – there are similarities but [also] some pretty big differences.”

08:02 “Tax reform is not a slam dunk, even though we have a Republican president and a Republican majority in the House and Senate.”

09:50 “Here’s a quick nutshell on the ordinary income tax basis; this is what the proposal is. Right now we have seven brackets. They (GOP) wants to break it down to three. We have a 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35% and 39.6% bracket. They want to combine the 10% and 15% bracket and call it 12%. Then they’ll combine the 25% and 28% tax bracket and call it 25%. Anything over the 25% tax bracket they’re calling it 33%.”

11:19 “Under Trump, he would like the standard deduction to be $15,000 for an individual and $30,000 for a married couple.”

15:01 “Capital gain rates right now are 0%, 15% and 20% depending on what your income levels are.”

18:07 “If you are in the 10% or 15% tax bracket today, if you sell that asset there is no tax up to the top of the bracket. Here’s a simple example…”

21:48 “You have to understand that things might be changing here, for the good or for the worst depending on what your overall situation is. Get an grasp on your overall situation before the end of the year to make sure you can take advantage of anything you should be taking advantage of this year and set yourself up appropriately for whichever changes may or may not happen.”

26:50 “There are two main proposals on the table right now: the Trump plan and the House GOP plan. They both want to change the way we deduct itemized deductions.” 27:50 “A donor advised fund is kind of like a mini private foundation...”

30:09 “One of the real benefits of the Roth conversion is for you and potentially your beneficiaries will potentially get all of that money tax-free.”

33:48 “Net unrealized appreciation is another one that’s probably on the chopping block. That’s taking stock out of your retirement account, moving it into a brokerage account to enjoy capital gains tax.”