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The Top 10 Reasons to Ask Your CPA for a Mid-Year Meeting This Summer

By |2024-06-13T12:13:54-07:00June 11, 2024|Categories: Tax Planning|Tags: |0 Comments

Here at SWC, where we’re known as a leading independently owned tax planning and financial strategies advisory firm, we believe in empowering our clients with the tools and knowledge they need to make informed financial decisions.

Part of that approach is to offer a complimentary mid-year meeting that helps our clients navigate the complexities of tax planning, reduce their tax-related liabilities, and maximize their financial well-being.

2024 Mid-Year Tax Planning Meeting Graphic

If you’ve never heard of a mid-year meeting, it’s generally considered a preemptive move that allows you to discuss your financial situation with your CPA well before the end of the year when it’s often too late to implement strategies that can reduce your 2024 tax labilities.

Being on the fence about scheduling a mid-year tax meetings is understandable. After all, it’s summer, and who wants to be cooped up in a meeting with a CPA? But consider this: you have the ability to meet with us online — yes, even from your hotel room if you’re on vacation. Just pick a time slot that is available from now through the end of August. It’s only an hour of your time that likely will result in many hours of peaceful sleep before the end of the year.

With that in mind, here’s our top 10 reasons why you — the individual taxpayer — should schedule a mid-year meeting with your CPA this summer:

  1. Review and Adjust Your Withholding: A mid-year review of your withholding can ensure that you’re on track to meet your tax obligations without overpaying. Adjusting your withholding now can prevent surprises at tax time and help you manage your personal cash flow more effectively.
  1. Maximize Retirement Contributions: Reviewing your retirement contributions mid-year allows you to make necessary adjustments to maximize your savings. Whether it’s contributing to an IRA, 401(k), or

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Want to Reduce Your Income Tax? Start Planning Now!

By |2022-06-02T14:06:42-07:00June 2, 2022|Categories: Taxes|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

You probably just filed your 2021 tax return a month ago or so, and you’re ready to put taxes at the back of your mind for at least a few months. This may not be your best thinking because, if you want to pay less in 2022, now’s the time to start planning.

What you do from now until December 31 of this year, can have a significant impact on how much income tax you’ll owe, or the size of the refund you can expect to receive, next year. That’s why here at SWC, we’re encouraging our clients to schedule a Mid-Year Tax Planning Meeting as soon as possible.

Marni Walker SWC CPA

In fact, tax planning is becoming increasingly important for two reasons:

  • First, thanks to inflation and other economic pressures, increases in income aren’t likely to keep pace with inflation. Saving on taxes may help alleviate some of that pain.
  • Second, if any pieces of current administration’s tax plan are implemented, tax rates for both individual and corporate taxpayers could increase. Having a tax plan in place to account for these potential increases and maximize the deductions and credits for which you qualify, may help to counter some of those increases.

As you prepare for your Mid-Year Meeting with us, we encourage you to start thinking about the various steps you can take now to avoid any nasty surprises next year, including:

  1. Consider adjusting your tax withholding or estimated payments
  2. Get a grip on the timing of investment gains and losses
  3. Take advantage of lower tax rates on investment income
  4. Check your deduction strategy
  5. Be prepared for issues related to virtual currency
  6. Consider if a reverse mortgage is right for you

In this post, we’re going to cover all of the above and more. First up, tax withholding and estimated payments.

Review Your Tax Withholding or Estimated Payments

The U.S. has a pay-as-you-go tax system, meaning that citizens pay taxes as they earn money. Here’s what that means: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…

Midyear Tax Planning Tips for Individuals and Businesses

By |2021-06-09T14:26:33-07:00June 9, 2021|Categories: Taxes|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

If you’re waiting until around the 15th of March — or worse yet, April — to save on your taxes, you’re waiting too long. Sure, you can use certain approaches to trim your taxes when completing your annual tax returns, but the bigger savings come from what you do in the months and years prior to filing.

And with recent changes in the balance of power in Washington, D.C., a little mid-year tax planning is sure to help you avoid some nasty surprises in the Aprils to come. President Biden has released a plan that, if enacted, will result in higher tax rates for certain individual and corporate taxpayers. Only time will tell what will ultimately happen. We’re keeping an eye out for any new tax legislation and will alert you when changes occur. But now is a good time to review your finances, so that if any changes to tax laws do take effect, you’ll be better prepared to act.

In this post, we cover several tax-planning approaches you’ll want to consider now — midway in the year — whether you’re an individual taxpayer or a small-business owner.

SWC Client Reminder: It’s time to schedule your complimentary 2021 Mid-year Tax Planning and Financial Strategy Meeting. Visit www.SteesWalker.com and click on the Contact link at the top of page, followed by the “Schedule Your Appointment Online” button on the next page.

Tax-Planning Strategies for Individual Taxpayers

First, consider some tax-planning approaches for yourself as an individual taxpayer. From revisiting your tax withholding or estimated tax payments and taking advantage of lower tax rates on investment income, to timing your investment gains and losses and taking advantage of expanded credits for kids, there are several strategies you may want to consider.

First up, let’s have another look at your tax withholding and estimated tax payments: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…

Preparing for Your Complimentary Annual Mid-Year Meeting

By |2020-06-03T14:32:59-07:00June 3, 2020|Categories: Financial Planning|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Here at Stees, Walker & Company, LLP, we make it our responsibility to help our clients navigate the complexities of personal and business finances and maximize their tax savings, so they have more money to enjoy their lives and invest toward their financial futures. To fulfill this deeply rooted responsibility, every year at about this time, we offer our clients a complementary mid-year planning meeting. During each one-hour session, we discuss the client’s goals and any changes to their personal and/or business lives, identify ways to help them save money on taxes, answer any questions they have, and ensure that we are all working together toward the same financial goals.

Whether you’re a client of ours or another financial planning firm, you should engage in a midyear tax and financial planning session because the financial decisions and actions you take over the coming months can have a significant impact on your finances for years to come. However, very few people engage in such planning or they do so without professional guidance. As a result, we suspect that many people miss out on opportunities to reduce their taxes and have more money to invest toward their financial futures.

This year, we have a sense that more people might neglect their finances due to COVID-19. With the spring filing deadline postponed to July 15, many people are still focused on filing their 2019 tax returns. However, early preparation is key to taking advantage of future tax-saving opportunities, so we encourage you to meet with a qualified tax advisor or financial planner to explore opportunities to improve your finances.

In this post, we cover some of the recent changes in tax legislation and present a list of tax moves that you and your advisor may want to discuss.

Recent and Future Changes Likely to Impact Your Taxes

Several changes in tax legislation occurred near the end of 2019 and early in 2020 that are likely to provide tax-saving opportunities: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…

It’s Time to Schedule Your Free Annual Financial Tune-Up

By |2020-05-18T09:25:45-07:00May 18, 2020|Categories: News From Our Office|Tags: |0 Comments

Tax and financial planning professionals typically have two busy seasons — the February-April crunch, as clients push to file their taxes by mid-April, and August-October for extensions (mostly corporate filers). This raises the question of where professional like us go and what we do in the summer.

Here at Stees, Walker & Company, LLP, we stay put and continue to work hard for our clients. As your tax and financial planning firm, we take advantage of this lull in the rush to conduct complementary mid-year planning meetings with clients in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Summer is the perfect time for us to discuss a financial tune up, and this year it is especially important since we are all facing unusual financial situations. The next three months give us the best opportunity to listen to your concerns, hear about any opportunities you’re interested in pursuing, and help you prepare approaches to take you from potential crises to recovery and beyond.

As a part of your tax and financial planning team, we listen for what matters to you and what you want your financial future to look like. Once we understand where you’re at financially, and where you want to be in the future, we work closely with you to reduce your tax bill and ultimately increase your net worth.

This year’s complementary mid-year meeting gives us an opportunity to re-evaluate your financial profile and enhance your financial journey by covering a range of topics — all of which are important pieces in your financial profile. During this one-hour meeting, we focus on the following three outcomes: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…

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