One popular fringe benefit is an education assistance program that allows employees to continue learning and perhaps earn a degree with financial assistance from their employers. One way to attract, retain and motivate employees is to provide education fringe benefits so that team members can improve their skills and gain additional knowledge. An employee can receive, on a tax-free basis, up to $5,250 each year from his or her employer under a “qualified educational assistance program.”

For this purpose, “education” means any form of instruction or training that improves or develops an individual’s capabilities. It doesn’t matter if it’s job-related or part of a degree program. This includes employer-provided education assistance for graduate-level courses, including those normally taken by individuals pursuing programs leading to a business, medical, law or other advanced academic or professional degrees.

More requirements

The educational assistance must be provided under a separate written plan that’s publicized to your employees, and must meet a number of conditions, including nondiscrimination requirements. In other words, it can’t discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. In addition, not more than 5% of the amounts paid or incurred by the employer for educational assistance during the year may be provided for individuals (including their spouses or dependents) who own 5% or more of the business.

No deduction or credit can be taken by the employee for any amount excluded from the employee’s income as an education assistance benefit.

Job-related education

If you pay more than $5,250 for educational benefits for an employee during the year, he or she must generally pay tax on the amount over $5,250. Your business should include the amount in income in the employee’s wages. However, in addition to, or instead of applying the $5,250 exclusion, an employer can satisfy an employee’s educational expenses on a nontaxable basis, if the educational assistance is job-related . To qualify as job-related, the educational assistance must:

• Maintain or improve skills required for the employee’s then-current job, or
• Comply with certain express employer-imposed conditions for continued employment.

“Job-related” employer educational assistance isn’t subject to a dollar limit. To be job-related, the education can’t qualify the employee to meet the minimum educational requirements for qualification in his or her employment or other trade or business.

Educational assistance meeting the above “job-related” rules is excludable from an employee’s income as a working condition fringe benefit.

Assistance with student loans

In addition to education assistance, some employers offer student loan repayment assistance as a recruitment and retention tool. Starting next year, employers can help more. Under the SECURE 2.0 law, an employer will be able to make matching contributions to 401(k) and certain other retirement plans with respect to “qualified student loan payments.” The result of this provision is that employees who can’t afford to save money for retirement because they’re repaying student loan debt can still receive matching contributions from their employers. This will take effect in 2024.

Contact us to learn more about setting up an education assistance or student loan repayment plan at your business.

© 2023

One popular fringe benefit is an education assistance program that allows employees to continue learning and perhaps earn a degree with financial assistance from their employers. One way to attract, retain and motivate employees is to provide education fringe benefits so that team members can improve their skills and gain additional knowledge. An employee can receive, on a tax-free basis, up to $5,250 each year from his or her employer under a “qualified educational assistance program.”

For this purpose, “education” means any form of instruction or training that improves or develops an individual’s capabilities. It doesn’t matter if it’s job-related or part of a degree program. This includes employer-provided education assistance for graduate-level courses, including those normally taken by individuals pursuing programs leading to a business, medical, law or other advanced academic or professional degrees.

More requirements

The educational assistance must be provided under a separate written plan that’s publicized to your employees, and must meet a number of conditions, including nondiscrimination requirements. In other words, it can’t discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. In addition, not more than 5% of the amounts paid or incurred by the employer for educational assistance during the year may be provided for individuals (including their spouses or dependents) who own 5% or more of the business.

No deduction or credit can be taken by the employee for any amount excluded from the employee’s income as an education assistance benefit.

Job-related education

If you pay more than $5,250 for educational benefits for an employee during the year, he or she must generally pay tax on the amount over $5,250. Your business should include the amount in income in the employee’s wages. However, in addition to, or instead of applying the $5,250 exclusion, an employer can satisfy an employee’s educational expenses on a nontaxable basis, if the educational assistance is job-related. To qualify as job-related, the educational assistance must:

• Maintain or improve skills required for the employee’s then-current job, or
• Comply with certain express employer-imposed conditions for continued employment.

“Job-related” employer educational assistance isn’t subject to a dollar limit. To be job-related, the education can’t qualify the employee to meet the minimum educational requirements for qualification in his or her employment or other trade or business.

Educational assistance meeting the above “job-related” rules is excludable from an employee’s income as a working condition fringe benefit.

Assistance with student loans

In addition to education assistance, some employers offer student loan repayment assistance as a recruitment and retention tool. Starting next year, employers can help more. Under the SECURE 2.0 law, an employer will be able to make matching contributions to 401(k) and certain other retirement plans with respect to “qualified student loan payments.” The result of this provision is that employees who can’t afford to save money for retirement because they’re repaying student loan debt can still receive matching contributions from their employers. This will take effect in 2024.

Contact us to learn more about setting up an education assistance or student loan repayment plan at your business.

© 2023

If you itemize deductions on your tax return, you may wonder: What medical expenses can I include? The IRS recently issued some frequently asked questions addressing when certain costs are qualified medical expenses for federal income tax purposes.

Basic rules and IRS clarifications

You can claim an itemized deduction for qualified medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. You can also take tax-free health savings account (HSA), health care flexible spending account (FSA) or health reimbursement account (HRA) withdrawals to cover qualified medical expenses. However, qualified medical expenses don’t include those for things that are merely beneficial to your general health.

The answers to the IRS FAQs clarify the following points, starting with the ones we think are most interesting.

• As a general rule, the costs of over-the-counter (non-prescription) drugs don’t count as qualified medical expenses. However, the cost of insulin is eligible. Over-the-counter drugs and menstrual care products can be reimbursed tax-free by an HSA, medical expense FSA, or HRA, but the costs don’t count as qualified medical expenses for medical expense deduction purposes.
• If you pay for nutritional counseling, the cost is a qualified medical expense only if it treats a specific disease diagnosed by a physician, such as obesity or diabetes.
• The cost of a weight-loss program is also a qualified medical expense only if it treats a specific disease diagnosed by a physician such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension or heart disease.
• Gym membership costs are qualified medical expenses only if the gym is for the sole purpose of: 1) affecting a structure or function of the body, such as part of a prescribed plan for physical therapy to treat an injury or 2) treating a specific disease diagnosed by a physician such as obesity, hypertension or heart disease. However, the cost of an exercise program that improves general health, such as swimming or dancing, isn’t eligible even if it’s recommended by a doctor.
• Food or beverages purchased for weight loss or other health reasons are qualified medical expenses only if the food or beverages: 1) don’t satisfy normal nutritional needs, 2) alleviate or treat an illness and 3) are needed according to a physician. Even if all of these requirements are met, the amount that can be treated as a qualified medical expense is limited to the amount by which the cost of the food or beverages exceeds the cost of products that satisfy normal nutritional needs.
• The costs of nutritional supplements are qualified only if they’re recommended as treatment for a specific medical condition diagnosed by a physician.
• Smoking cessation program costs are qualified medical expenses because they treat the disease of tobacco use disorder. Similarly, the amounts paid for programs to treat drug and alcohol abuse are qualified medical expenses because they treat the diseases of substance use and alcohol use disorders.
• The cost of therapy for treatment of a disease is a qualified medical expense. For example, the cost of therapy to treat a diagnosed mental illness is eligible, but the cost of marital counseling isn’t.
• Unsurprisingly, the costs of dental exams, eye exams and physical exams are qualified medical expenses because they provide a diagnosis of whether a disease or illness is present.

Count all eligible expenses

If you meet or are close to the threshold to deduct medical expenses, you want to count every one that’s eligible. Be sure to save documentation and we can evaluate expenses when we prepare your tax return.

© 2023

If you’re currently taking care of your children and elderly parents, count yourself among those in the “Sandwich Generation.” Although it may be personally gratifying to help your parents, it can be a time-consuming and financial burden.

How can you best handle the financial affairs of parents in the later stages of life? Incorporate their needs into your own estate plan while tweaking, when necessary, the arrangements they’ve already made. Here are some critical action steps to take to better manage your situation:

Identify key contacts. Just like you’ve done for yourself, compile the names and addresses of professionals important to your parents’ finances and medical conditions. These may include stockbrokers, financial advisors, attorneys, CPAs, insurance agents and physicians.

List and value their assets. If you’re going to be able to manage the financial affairs of your parents, having knowledge of their assets is vital. Keep a list of their investment holdings, IRAs and other retirement plan accounts, and life insurance policies, including current balances and account numbers. Be sure to add in projections for Social Security benefits.

Execute the proper estate planning documents. Develop a plan incorporating several legal documents. If your parents already have one or more of these documents, the paperwork may need to be revised. Some elements commonly included in an estate plan are:

• Wills. Your parents’ wills control the disposition of their possessions and tie up other loose ends. (Of course, jointly owned property with rights of survivorship automatically passes to the survivor.) Notably, a will also establishes the executor of your parents’ estates. If you’re the one providing financial assistance, you may be the optimal choice.
• Living trusts. A living trust can supplement a will by providing for the disposition of selected assets. Unlike a will, a living trust doesn’t have to go through probate, so this might save time and money, while avoiding public disclosure.
• Powers of attorney for health and finances. These documents authorize someone to legally act on behalf of another person. With a durable power of attorney, the most common version, the authorization continues after the person is disabled. This enables you to better handle your parents’ affairs.
• Living wills or advance medical directives. These documents provide guidance for end-of-life decisions. Make sure that your parents’ physicians have copies so they can act according to their wishes.
• Beneficiary designations. Undoubtedly, your parents have completed beneficiary designations for retirement plans, IRAs and life insurance policies. These designations supersede references in a will, so it’s important to keep them up to date.

Spread the wealth. If you decide the best approach for helping your parents is to give them monetary gifts, it’s relatively easy to avoid gift tax liability. Under the annual gift tax exclusion, you can give each recipient up to $17,000 (for 2023) without paying any gift tax. Plus, payments to medical providers aren’t considered gifts, so you may make such payments on your parents’ behalf without using any of your annual exclusion or lifetime exemption amount.

If you’re part of the Sandwich Generation, you already have a lot on your plate. Please contact us if you have questions regarding your parents’ estate plans, or your own. We’d be pleased to help during this challenging time.

© 2023

No matter how diligently you prepare, your estate plan can quickly be derailed if you or a loved one requires long-term home health care or an extended stay at an assisted living facility or nursing home. Long-term care (LTC) expenses aren’t covered by traditional health insurance policies or Medicare. So it’s important to have a plan to finance these costs, either by setting aside some of your savings or purchasing insurance. Let’s take a closer look at three options.

1) LTC insurance

An LTC insurance policy supplements your traditional health insurance by covering services that assist you or a loved one with one or more activities of daily living (ADLs). Generally, ADLs include eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring (getting in and out of a bed or chair) and maintaining continence.

LTC coverage is relatively expensive, but it may be possible to reduce the cost by purchasing a tax-qualified policy. Generally, benefits paid in accordance with an LTC policy are tax-free. To qualify, a policy must:

• Be guaranteed renewable and noncancelable regardless of health,
• Not delay coverage of pre-existing conditions more than six months,
• Not condition eligibility on prior hospitalization,
• Not exclude coverage based on a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or similar conditions or illnesses, and
• Require a physician’s certification that you’re either unable to perform at least two of six ADLs or you have a severe cognitive impairment and that this condition has lasted or is expected to last at least 90 days.

It’s important to weigh the pros and cons of tax-qualified policies. The primary advantage is the premium tax deduction. But keep in mind that medical expenses are deductible only if you itemize and only to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI), so some people may not have enough medical expenses to benefit from this advantage. It’s also important to weigh any potential tax benefits against the advantages of nonqualified policies, which may have less stringent eligibility requirements.

2) Hybrid insurance

Also known as “asset-based” policies, hybrid policies combine LTC benefits with whole life insurance or annuity benefits. These policies have advantages over standalone LTC policies.

For example, their health-based underwriting requirements typically are less stringent and their premiums are usually guaranteed — that is, they won’t increase over time. Most important, LTC benefits, which are tax-free, are funded from the death benefit or annuity value. So, if you never need to use the LTC benefits, those amounts are preserved for your beneficiaries.

3) Employer-provided plans

Employer-provided group LTC insurance plans offer significant advantages over individual policies, including discounted premiums and “guaranteed issue” coverage, which covers eligible employees (and, in some cases, their spouse and dependents) regardless of their health status. Group plans aren’t subject to nondiscrimination rules, so a business can offer employer-paid coverage to a select group of employees.

Employer plans also offer tax advantages. Generally, C corporations that pay LTC premiums for employees can deduct the entire amount as a business expense, even if it exceeds the deduction limit for individuals. And premium payments are excluded from employees’ wages for income and payroll tax purposes.

Think long term

Given the potential magnitude of LTC expenses, the earlier you begin planning, the better. We can help you review your options and analyze the relative benefits and risks.

© 2023

Are you getting ready to retire? If so, you’ll soon experience changes in your lifestyle and income sources that may have numerous tax implications.

Here’s a brief rundown of four tax and financial issues you may contend with when you retire:

Taking required minimum distributions. These are the minimum amounts you must withdraw from your retirement accounts. You generally must start taking withdrawals from your IRA, SEP, SIMPLE and other retirement plan accounts when you reach age 73 if you were age 72 after December 31, 2022. If you reach age 72 in 2023, the required beginning date for your first RMD is April 1, 2025, for 2024. Roth IRAs don’t require withdrawals until after the death of the owner.

You can withdraw more than the minimum required amount. Your withdrawals will be included in your taxable income except for any part that was taxed before or that can be received tax-free (such as qualified distributions from Roth accounts).

Selling your principal residence. Many retirees want to downsize to smaller homes. If you’re one of them and you have a gain from the sale of your principal residence, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of that gain from your income. If you file a joint return, you may be able to exclude up to $500,000.

To claim the exclusion, you must meet certain requirements. During a five-year period ending on the date of the sale, you must have owned the home and lived in it as your main home for at least two years.

If you’re thinking of selling your home, make sure you’ve identified all items that should be included in its basis, which can save you tax.

Getting involved in new work activities. After retirement, many people continue to work as consultants or start new businesses. Here are some tax-related questions to ask if you’re launching a new venture:

• Should it be a sole proprietorship, S corporation, C corporation, partnership or limited liability company?
• Are you familiar with how to elect to amortize start-up expenditures and make payroll tax deposits?
• Can you claim home office deductions?
• How should you finance the business?

Taking Social Security benefits. If you continue to work, it may have an impact on your Social Security benefits. If you retire before reaching full Social Security retirement age (65 years of age for people born before 1938, rising to 67 years of age for people born after 1959) and the sum of your wages plus self-employment income is over the Social Security annual exempt amount ($21,240 for 2023), you must give back $1 of Social Security benefits for each $2 of excess earnings.

If you reach full retirement age this year, your benefits will be reduced $1 for every $3 you earn over a different annual limit ($56,520 in 2023) until the month you reach full retirement age. Then, your earnings will no longer affect the amount of your monthly benefits, no matter how much you earn.

Speaking of Social Security, you may have to pay federal (and possibly state) tax on your benefits. Depending on how much income you have from other sources, you may have to report up to 85% of your benefits as income on your tax return and pay the resulting federal income tax.

Tax planning is still important

As you can see, you may have to make many decisions after you retire. We can help maximize the tax breaks you’re entitled to so you can keep more of your hard-earned money.

© 2023

If you’ve received, or will soon receive, a significant inheritance, it may be tempting to view it as “found money” that can be spent freely. But unless your current financial plan ensures that you’ll comfortably reach all your goals, it’s a good idea to have a plan of action for managing your newfound wealth.

Take time to reflect

Generally, when you receive an inheritance, there’s no need to act quickly. Take some time to reflect on the significance of the inheritance for your financial situation; consult with a team of trusted advisors (including an attorney, accountant, and financial advisor); and carefully review your options.

While you’re planning, park any cash or investments in a bank or brokerage account. If you’re married, consider holding the assets in an account in your name only. An inheritance is usually considered your separate property in the event of a divorce, but it may lose that status if it’s commingled with marital property in a joint account.

Avoid making quick financial commitments

If your loved one’s estate is still being administered, don’t start spending — or make any financial commitments based on your inheritance — until you understand what your net proceeds from the estate will be. Once all fees and taxes are accounted for, the final settlement may be less than you expect.

If you’re receiving your inheritance through a trust, talk with the trustee, familiarize yourself with the trust’s terms, and be sure you understand the timing and amount of distributions and any conditions that must be satisfied to receive them.

Beware of income and estate tax consequences

An inheritance generally isn’t subject to income tax, but depending on the types of assets you inherit, they may have an impact on your tax situation going forward. For example, certain income-producing assets — such as those from real estate, an investment portfolio or a retirement plan — may substantially increase your taxable income or even push you into a higher tax bracket.

Depending on the size of the inheritance, it may also have an impact on your estate plan. If it increases the value of your estate to a point where estate tax becomes a concern, talk with your advisor about strategies for reducing those taxes and preserving as much wealth as possible for your heirs.

Review and revise your financial plan

Treating an inheritance separately from your other assets may encourage impulsive, unplanned spending. A better approach is to integrate inherited assets into your overall financial plan.

Consider using some of the inheritance to pay down credit card or other high-interest debt (if you have it) or to build an emergency fund. The rest should be available, along with your other assets, for funding your retirement, college expenses for your children, travel or other financial goals.

Have a plan

If you receive a sizable inheritance, there’s nothing wrong with taking a small portion of it and splurging a bit. But for the most part, you should treat inherited assets as you’d treat the assets you’ve earned over the years and incorporate them into a comprehensive financial plan. You’ll also want to address any inherited assets in your estate plan. Contact us for more information.

© 2023

No matter how much effort you’ve invested in crafting an estate plan, your will, trusts and other official documents may not be enough. Consider also drafting a “road map.” Essentially, it’s an informal letter that guides your family in executing your plan according to your wishes.

What to address

Among other things, your road map may include:

• A list of important contacts, including your estate planning attorney, accountant, insurance agent and financial advisors,
• The location of your will, living and other trusts, tax returns and records, powers of attorney, insurance policies, deeds, and automobile titles,
• A personal financial statement that lists stocks, bonds, real estate, bank accounts, retirement plans, vehicles and other assets, as well as information about mortgages, credit cards, and other debts,
• An inventory of digital assets — such as email accounts, online bank and brokerage accounts, online photo galleries, digital music and book collections, and social media accounts — including login credentials or a description of arrangements made to provide your representative with access,
• Computer passwords and home security system codes,
• Safe combinations and the location of any safety deposit boxes and keys, and
• The location of family heirlooms or other valuable personal property.

If you’ve preplanned your funeral, include information about the arrangements. If you haven’t preplanned it, consider explaining your burial wishes in the road map.

Communicate your motives

Use the road map to explain your reasoning behind certain estate planning decisions. Doing so can go a long way toward easing disputes over your estate after you’re gone.

For example, perhaps you’re distributing your assets unequally, distributing specific assets to specific heirs or placing certain restrictions on an heir’s entitlement to trust distributions. There are many good reasons for these strategies, but it’s important for your family to understand your motives to avoid hurt feelings.

Finally, like other estate planning documents, your road map won’t be effective unless your family knows where to find it, so consider leaving it with a trusted advisor. Contact us if you’d like help drafting an estate planning road map.

© 2023

You may think you don’t need to make any estate planning moves because of the generous federal estate tax exemption of $12.92 million for 2023 (effectively $25.84 million if you’re married).

However, if you have significant assets, you should consider establishing a living trust to avoid probate. Probate is a court-supervised legal process intended to make sure a deceased person’s assets are properly distributed. However, going through probate typically means red tape, legal fees and your financial affairs becoming public information. You can avoid this with a living trust (also commonly called a family trust, grantor trust and revocable trust).

How they work

You establish the living trust and transfer legal ownership of assets for which you wish to avoid probate to it (such as your main home, a vacation property, antique furniture, etc.).

In the trust document, you name a trustee to be in charge of the trust’s assets after you die and specify which beneficiaries will get which assets.

You can be the trustee while you’re alive. After that, you can designate your attorney, CPA, adult child, sibling, faithful friend or financial institution to be the trustee.

Because a living trust is revocable, you can change its terms at any time, or even unwind it completely, while you’re alive and legally competent. That’s why it’s called a living trust.

For federal income tax purposes, the existence of the living trust is ignored while you’re alive. As far as the IRS is concerned, you still personally own the assets that are in the trust. So, you continue to report on your tax return any income generated by trust assets and any deductions related to those assets, such as mortgage interest on your home.

For state-law purposes, however, the living trust isn’t ignored. Done properly, it avoids probate. And that’s the goal.

When you die, the living trust assets are included in your estate for federal estate tax purposes. However, assets that go to your surviving spouse aren’t included in your estate, assuming your spouse is a U.S. citizen — thanks to the so-called unlimited marital deduction privilege.

As explained earlier, you probably don’t have to worry about a federal estate tax bill with today’s huge exemption. But the exemption is scheduled to go down drastically in 2026 unless Congress extends it. If Congress fails to do so, you may need to revisit your estate plan.

Some caveats

A living trust has several benefits, but mind these details or you won’t get the expected probate avoidance:

• When you fill out forms to designate beneficiaries for life insurance policies, retirement accounts and brokerage firm accounts, the named beneficiaries can automatically cash in upon your death without going through probate. If the distribution provisions of your living trust are different from your beneficiary designations, the latter will take precedence. So, keep beneficiary designations current because your living trust’s provisions won’t override them.
• If you co-own real estate jointly with right of survivorship, the other co-owner(s) will automatically inherit your share upon your death. It makes no difference what your living trust says.
• You must transfer legal ownership of assets to the living trust for it to perform its probate-avoidance magic. Many people set up living trusts and then fail to follow through by transferring ownership. If so, the probate-avoidance advantage is lost.

More planning may be needed

Living trusts do nothing to avoid or minimize the federal estate tax or state death taxes. If you have enough wealth to be exposed to these taxes, additional planning is required to reduce or eliminate them. Contact us for more information.

© 2023

In recent years, many workers have become engaged in the “gig” economy. You may think of gig workers as those who deliver take-out restaurant meals, walk dogs and drive for ride-hailing services. But so-called gig work seems to be expanding. Today, some nurses have become gig workers and writers in Hollywood who recently went on strike have expressed concerns that screenwriting is becoming part of the gig economy.

There are tax consequences when performing jobs that don’t involve taxes being deducted from a regular paycheck. The bottom line: If you receive income from freelancing or from one of the online platforms offering goods and services, it’s generally taxable. That’s true even if the income comes from a side job and even if you don’t receive an income statement reporting the amount of money you made.

Gig worker basics

The IRS considers gig workers those who are independent contractors and conduct their jobs through online platforms. Examples include Uber, Lyft, Airbnb and DoorDash.

Unlike traditional employees, independent contractors don’t receive benefits associated with employment or employer-sponsored health insurance. They also aren’t covered by the minimum wage or other federal law protections and they aren’t part of states’ unemployment insurance systems. In addition, they’re on their own when it comes to retirement savings and taxes.

Make quarterly payments during the year

If you’re part of the gig or sharing economy, here are some tax considerations.

• You may need to make quarterly estimated tax payments because your income isn’t subject to withholding. These payments are generally due on April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15 of the following year. (If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the due date becomes the next business day.)
• You should receive a Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation, a Form 1099-K or other income statement from the online platform.
• Some or all of your business expenses may be deductible on your tax return, subject to the normal tax limitations and rules. For example, if you provide rides with your own car, you may be able to deduct depreciation for wear and tear and deterioration of the vehicle. Be aware that if you rent a room in your main home or vacation home, the rules for deducting expenses can be complex.

Maintain meticulous records

It’s important to keep good records tracking income and expenses in case you are audited by the IRS or state tax authorities. Contact us if you have questions about your tax obligations as a gig worker or the deductions you can claim. You don’t want to get an unwanted surprise when you file your tax return.

© 2023