Tax What If Doctor  
Tax Planning: It Isn’t Just For Breakfast Anymore
by TaxDoctor on September 18, 2024 at 3:57 pm 
All around the country, there are people in an absolute panic because the real tax deadline for personal tax return extension filers is approaching and they are running out of time. The exception would be for those who have been affected by flooding or other natural disasters and may be given an extended deadline by the IRS. Those people may now have additional time to file, but would need to check the IRS website to see if they are in an affected area recognized by the IRS and would be covered by the exception. For the rest of us extension filers, there are some choices that need to be made quickly. The deadline is just a few weeks away. You’re not ready. What do you do?  The
It’s the End of the Road for Tax Procrastinators
by TaxDoctor on September 11, 2024 at 7:23 pm 
This last wave of tax filers are quite often the most productive people in our economy. Many are business owners, some with more than one business, or at least in some ways just have a lot going on, which means they usually add and not subtract from the tax base. That said, if your taxes are not done yet, then you’re in a rush (or should be) to get everything ready for filing, which usually means you’re not getting everything done accurately, and very often means you’re not getting any real tax mitigation advice either. It’s a vicious cycle. You wait to file because you are so busy getting ahead and just plain getting things done, then comes the fear
Lower Your Tax Bill More by Using a Qualified Charitable Distribution
by TaxDoctor on September 4, 2024 at 1:37 pm 
This is the time of year when people often start taking personal inventory of how fortunate they are and start considering charitable contributions as a way to “give back” a little. For some, it’s an automatic budget item in their day to day lives, but for others it’s a new activity. For many years the IRS has helped people give by allowing charitable contributions to be deducted on schedule A when they file their taxes. The tax deduction value of those gifts changed with the Trump tax code simplification, as many people no longer need to file a Schedule A due to the higher standard deduction. Many people are still ingrained in their old charitable giving habits and aren’t aware
Why Do People Fear Tax Audits More Than They Fear Overpaying?
by TaxDoctor on August 28, 2024 at 1:38 pm 
Ask anyone if they “pay too much income tax” and the knee jerk reaction is almost always, “Yes!” and without much hesitation. Why do we call that a knee jerk reaction? Because if you then follow the question up with two more questions, “What did you pay in federal tax last year? And/or what bracket are you in?” they almost as quickly say, “I don’t remember, or I’m not sure.” Or they might guess at a bracket percentage, but usually not correctly. We’ve even had people profess the pain of paying too much in tax only to discover that not only did they get back all of their withholdings, but they were given tax credit refunds of money they did
Not Everyone Should be Trying to Lower Their Tax Bill
by TaxDoctor on August 21, 2024 at 12:58 pm 
It may sound odd when you say it out loud, but after considering all the facts, it’s quite true. It’s an emotional but understandable reaction to think you always want to lower your tax bill as much as possible. However, except in the case of death, the tax code is basically a case of “tax me now or tax me later.” In many cases, to lower your current tax bill means that income avoided or deductions taken now are going to come back into your life at some later point. One example would be an IRA. You put money in an IRA and lower today’s tax bill, but those dollars will need to be taxed at some point. When you