How Irs Form 13844 Strategies 2025

Hey guys, Toby Mathis here from Anderson Business Advisors. Today, we're going to talk about year-end tax planning. For the last 20 years or so, I've been in the field of taxation and tax planning. And let me tell you, there's a huge difference between tax preparation and tax planning. A lot of people go to a tax preparer without realizing that that individual is not actually a tax planner. They're simply reacting to what happened in the previous year and putting everything in the right columns. That's about it. A tax planner, on the other hand, looks at what's happening throughout the year and uses their crystal ball to figure out the best way to navigate the tax landscape. They want flexibility and understand that there are options even after the tax year ends, as long as things are set up correctly. Let me give you an example. If you're an individual and you want to make a contribution to your IRA, you have until you file your tax return to do so. However, there are certain income phase-outs that determine whether you can still take a deduction by putting money into a traditional IRA. This rule does not apply to other types of retirement plans like 401(k)s or profit sharing plans. For those, we can go up until the entity files its tax return as long as we set things up correctly. Now, let's talk about income shifting. This is a key element in year-end tax planning. A good planner understands that money can land in different places from a tax standpoint. If you're an individual taxpayer, your options may be limited, from playing around with your IRA to making donations to charities for itemized deductions. But once we look beyond the individual level, things change. For example, if you have a...