If you’re not already scheduling meetings with tax clients for year-end planning, you may be falling behind.
The government’s massive response to the financial meltdown and business downturn is producing a volcano of changes in year-end tax planning and potentially new challenges when filing season starts in 2010.
We caught up with CCH tax guru Mark Luscombe at this week’s NASBA CPE Expo to get his thoughts on what accountants should be talking about with their clients today.
And we asked what kind of headaches tax professionals can expect for busy season.
Here’s more, a few excerpts from his slides, listing 15 items for individuals alone:
Eight New 2009 Year-End Tax Planning Tips for Individuals
- Making Work Pay Credit (Watch out for under-withholding. Consider economic recovery payments)
- First-time Homebuyer Credit
- American Opportunity Tax Credit
- Qualified 529 Plan Expenses
- Exclusion for Unemployment benefits
- Madoff Losses
- Disaster Relief
- Plug-In Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit
Seven New 2010 Tax Proposals for Individuals
- Late changing rules, regs and forms through filing season
- Revised Saver’s Credit
- Restoring 36% and 39.6% brackets
- 20% cap gain and dividend rate
- Restore phase-out of itemized deductions and exemptions
- Limit tax value of itemized deductions to 28%
- New fees and taxes with healthcare insurance overhaul, including: (small business credit and surcharge on high-income earners)
Source: CCH
For more tips on client service opportunities in today’s market, click here to tune in to our Client Satisfaction and Retention webinar at 1 pm Eastern on Wednesday, October 7
What do you see as your biggest challenges and opportunities in the upcoming tax season? Tell us in comments…
