09 Apr Now is the Time for Year-End Planning
Posted at 12:12h
in General
Get ahead of year-end planning. Some of the most powerful tax savings come from implementing strategies that incorporate generosity and appreciated assets. Many of these strategies require multiple steps with various professionals, so planning ahead is crucial. If any of these situations apply to you, let us know—we’d love to help.
Key Planning Considerations for 2025
- Sale of a Business – Thinking about selling a business? We can help you explore options to reduce taxes, gift to family, or support charities.
- Succession Planning – Transitioning your business to family members or internal candidates? Let’s discuss your options for a smooth transfer.
- Selling Real Estate – Whether selling a vacation home, investment property, primary residence, or raw land, there may be strategies to defer or eliminate taxation.
- Charitable Giving – If you’re making gifts to charity, there may be ways to maximize tax benefits while supporting causes you care about.
- Gifts to Family Members – Are you considering making a large gift to your children, grandchildren, extended family members, or are you receiving such a gift? Want to help a family member, grandchild, or friend with college tuition or medical expenses? Certain gifting strategies can enhance tax efficiency.
- Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) – If you’re 70½ or older, QCDs allow you to make direct charitable gifts from your IRA, lowering taxable income.
- Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Tax (GST) – The current estate and gift tax exemption is $13.99 million per individual ($27.98 million per couple). If the 2017 tax cuts are not extended, this will drop to approximately $7 million per individual ($14 million per couple) in 2026. Now is the time to plan for potential changes.
- 2025 Gift Tax Exclusion – In 2025, the gift tax exclusion will increase to $19,000 per recipient. If you "gift split" with your spouse, you can give $38,000 per recipient—and if the recipient is married, you could collectively gift them up to $76,000 tax-free.
Planning is Critical
Many of these strategies require valuations, legal coordination, coordinating with charities, and IRS compliance—so planning is critical. If you are considering any of these moves, let’s start the conversation today to ensure you maximize tax benefits.