I typed in "last minute tax planning tips" into a Google search. The page hits filled the first search results page with that exact phrase and kept on going.
We are spending significant time in November and December 2010 working with clients to determine year end tax planning strategies. As with many things in life, taxes are about timing...timing of recognition of income and deduction of expenses. The timing of these items can have a significant impact on a business's or individual's tax liabilities. For example, moving the sale of a security from one year to the next can have an impact on the resulting tax due. We plan event like this to minimize our client's tax liabilities.
All the web posts and new articles about last minute tax planning tips makes me feel like we are behind in serving our clients. However, we am still not certain in many cases what to tell clients to do. We make informed and educated guesses on what the the tax law might look like in 2011 and after. In many cases we do not know what the law will be for 2010. All of this happening and unresolved on December 3, 2010.
Karl Rove's article in the Wall Street Journal( Karl Rove: Nancy Pelosi's Unwelcome Christmas Gift) may really be directed as a criticism of Speaker Pelosi. It provides a lengthy summary of the many unresolved tax issues for 2010, 2011 and after. I found that part more interesting.
CPA's like rules. We work hard to understand them, properly implement them and help our clients to pay the lowest tax liability allowed under the law. What are the rules? I don't exactly know. Do you?
I am starting to get the feeling like we are not the ones who are behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment