6-2 Short Paper. Tax Planning Advice

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1 6-2 Short Paper: Tax Planning Advice Valerie Smith SNHU TAX-670-X1459 Tax Research Methodology 23TW1 Joseph R Palombo October 27, 2023
2 6-2 Short Paper: Tax Planning Advice Memorandum TO: Client, John FROM: Valerie Smith DATE: October 27, 2023 RE: The Best Tax Plan for John’s Circumstances Facts: John is concerned about tax planning and saving for his children's education. He is married, has a $500,000 mortgage, and a $135,000 joint adjusted gross income. Issue(s): 1. Should John trade his short-term and long-term investments to cater for college expenses his children? 2. Should John acquire a home equity loan or a second mortgage on the house for funding his children's educational costs? 3. Should John consider conversion to Roth IRA or should he contribute to an IRA? 4. What are available educational tax credits that John could acquire to cater his children’s educational expenses? Authorities: IRC §1222(1) – evaluates the holding period for available capital assets. IRC §1222(3) – explores short-term capital gains. IRC § 163(a) – Allows deduction of interest paid on loans such as business and mortgage interest.
3 IRC §163(h)(3)(F)(i)(II) – establishes restrictions concerning interest deductions associated with home equity loans. IRC §408 – develops individual retirement accounts. IRC §408A – discusses contributions and rules concerning Roth IRA. Publication 970 - explores educational tax benefits. IRC §25A – explores educational tax credits. Conclusion: The best option that John should take entails selling his long-term investments because it results in higher returns than the other options. Although conversion from IRA to Roth is effective, it is more appealing and beneficial to sell the long-term investment to increase the 529 account for catering qualified educational expenses. Remarkably, converting to a Roth IRA should not be considered because its contributions are not deductible and will place John into a higher tax bracket resulting in increased tax consequences. John will be able to steadily sort his children’s educational costs if he considers this approach. A lower tax rate will be applied to the capital gains after selling the long-term investment. The acquired money will then be used for the children’s college tuition and other qualified costs. A home equity loan and a second mortgage should not be taken because the loan’s interest will not be deductible making it unbeneficial to John. John can utilize the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), but it has restrictions such as applying for four taxable years per child, student must be enrolled in an education program, and have no drug offense felony.
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4 Analysis and Summary: Selling Investments John has the choice of selling his short-term and long-term investments to cater his children's educational expenses. Remarkably, tax consequences vary depending on the classification of the investment sales. IRC §1222(1) indicates that short-term capital gains entail profits gained after exchanging or selling capital possessions held beyond a year with the inclusion of the acquired gains into the relevant gross income computation. IRC §1222(3) states that long-term capital gains involve profits acquired after the exchange or selling of capital assets held for a duration of more than a year, with the relevant gains being added in the gross income calculation. John should not sell short-term investments because their capital gains are taxed using the ordinary income rate and have losses that will affect his long-term capital gain. With the $135,000 joint adjusted gross income, a tax rate of 22% will be applied if he sells his short- term investments. This rate will increase if the taxable income is higher than $135,000. Instead, John should opt for his long-term investments sale because a lower tax rate of 15% will be applied on them when filled jointly. He will achieve about 7% tax savings on the acquired capital gains after the long-term investment sale. However, the investment sales will likely increase John’s taxable income and raise his tax bracket. Therefore, it is not the best option for him to acquire funds for his children’s educational expenses. Interest Deduction According to IRC § 163(a), it is acceptable to deduct indebtedness interest accumulated or paid during a certain tax year. Notably, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act does not allow interest deductions for home equity loans from 2018 to 2026 (Rader, 2020). However, IRC §163(h)(3)(F) (i)(II) permits interest deductions if home equity loans are used to buy, construct, and improve
5 the primary residence of the taxpayer. John should not acquire the home equity loans or consider the second mortgage to fund his kids’ qualified educational costs because the interest will not be deducted. IRA or Roth IRA IRC §408(a) indicates that individual retirement accounts are trusts developed in America to benefit people and their beneficiaries. Contributions associated with IRA and Roth IRA are limited to $6,500 ($7.500 for 50 years old or older people) in 2023 (IRS.gov, 2023). John should not consider an IRA because the tax-deductible phase-out starts at $116,000 of adjusted gross income for married people jointly. According to IRC §408(A), conversions to Roth IRA are not subject to contribution limits because they are categorized as a distribution that is added to the year's taxable gross income. Conversion to the Roth IRA is recommended and will make John’s $135,000 joint modified gross income being subjected to tax deduction because it is within the eligible threshold of less than $218,000. Any adjusted gross income above this limit will not be tax deductible. IRC § 408A(c)(1) applies tax on contributions linked with Roth IRA because they are not deductible. The income limitation associated with contributing to a Roth IRA makes this option not the best for John. Educational Tax Credits Publication 970 explores educational tax benefits that John can consider such as the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC) and the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC). Segal (2022) notes that LLC and AOTC are claimed to lower a person’s owed income tax. IRC §25A indicates $2,000 as the highest LLC credit allowed per year without a degree program enrollment. For married jointly filling individuals whose adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeds $132,000, they cannot acquire an LLC. John does not qualify to claim for LLC because his joint
6 AGI is $135,000. On the other hand, AOTC associated with married jointly filling people is limited to $180,000 (Li et al., 2018). Therefore, John can claim AOTC because his joint AGI ($135,000) is below the eligibility threshold limit ($180,000). He will acquire the AOTC and sort qualified educational expenses such as tuition and books. AOTC is not the best option for him because the student must have degree program enrollment and apply for only 4 taxable years for each student.
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7 References IRC § 163(a) – Deduction of interest paid on loans such as business and mortgage interest. IRC § 25A - American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credits. IRC §1222(1) – Holding period for available capital assets. IRC §1222(3) – Short-term capital gains. IRC §163(h)(3)(F)(i)(II) – Restrictions on interest deductions associated with home equity loan. IRC §408 – Individual retirement accounts. IRC §408A – Roth IRAs. IRS.gov. (2023). Retirement Topics - IRA contribution limits. https://www.irs.gov/retirement- plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-ira-contribution-limits Li, Z., Chen, C., & Jones, K. T. (2018). Nontraditional college students: Strategies for minimizing tax liabilities and avoiding pitfalls. The CPA Journal , 88 (9), 42-46. https://www.cpajournal.com/2018/09/13/nontraditional-college-students/ Publication 970 - Tax benefits for education. Rader, M. (2020). The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017: Implications for the US real estate market. Corporate Real Estate Journal , 9 (3), 234-255. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/hsp/crej/2020/00000009/00000003/art00005 Segal, T. (2022). IRS Publication 970: Tax benefits for education overview. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/irs-pub-970.asp