People don’t generally feel in control of their tax bill, even though ultimately they are in more control than they think.
It's that fear that the bill will be a much larger amount than even they expected. To make it even worse, somehow, it’s also because it’s a - **gulp** - TAX BILL.
Think about it.
If you dropped your car off at a garage with a transmission hesitation, you think the same way as you do your tax bill. “This could be bad, new transmission was not what I was planning on this week!” What will this cost me? It could be just low fluid or a seal (a few hundred) or the big one, complete replacement $1800. Plus $2500 in labor?
It’s the same pain of the unknown and often in the same ballpark, “will I owe another $500.00 or $2000.00?"
No sleep is loss over the transmission, just standard adult dread. When it’s Taxes however - it’s ten times worse and over the same dollars.
WHY?
Don’t know, just because its taxes!
Here’s our point. Your taxes are in your control to a much greater degree than you think.
But you need education as to the adjustments you could make - and you need that information in JUNE so you also have time to put the plan in place.
For instance, perhaps you’re planning on replacing a porch on your home in the fall after golf winds down for the season. You are going to take the funds from a short bond you own that was yielding 4% and now is up to 4.75% - but is going to mature next February so the great rate is over soon anyway.
Tax planning might tell you that you should use a home equity line of credit for that porch instead of the short bond - for several reasons.
The materials are on sale now and in the fall they will be 15% higher.
You should hire the contractor you want now as the good ones always get booked up in the fall rush.
The interest is 2.75% on the home equity line - so even though you will pay interest on money for 5 months, you leave the bond paying 4.75% and the 2.75% the bank is charging is tax deductible.
The bond when cashed is taxable, and at below par you’d loose value that you will not lose in February by allowing it to mature.
It’s all just a matter of doing the math and discussing plans, from the kids (or grandkids) education contributions you might make this fall, to if you should roll IRA to Roth before taking that part time consulting job you have been offered.
Now is the time to come in and talk about 2017! Not late fall or next year.