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Category Archives: Tax Planning For Doctors

Apocalypse 2012 Postponed Due to Extended Tax Breaks

Extended Tax Breaks Providing Tax-Cutting Opportunities!

According to MY calendar, not the Mayan’s, the only apocalypse you’re going to experience is the collapse of your cash flow and the raiding of your pocketbook if you don’t take advantage of your legitimate tax breaks! Remember, I always say…

“Plan like you’re going to live forever but live like this is your last day!”

Now, here are a few more tax tips to discuss with your tax reducing professional. And, if you don’t have a tax-reducing-professional, we should talk!

1.       Deep under Sec. 101 of the now famous, 2010 Tax Relief Act, the tax rate schedules for individuals remain at 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, and 35% for a glorious two more years. All the way through 2012. Furthermore, the size of the 15% tax bracket for joint filers and their qualified surviving spouses remains at 200% of the 15% tax bracket for individual filers through the tax year of 2012.

2.       The standard deduction for you married taxpayers, filing jointly, and of course qualified surviving spouses, remains at 200% of the 15% tax bracket for all individual filers through 2012.

3.       There is no 3%/80% limitation on your itemized deductions for both 2011 and 2012.

4.       Parents rejoice! The $1k child tax credit has been extended and allowed to be used against regular income tax for two years, through 2012. But wait, there’s more! The formula for determining refundable child credit, with the earned income threshold of $3k (but not adjusted for inflation) is also extended for two more years, through, yup, you guessed it, 2012!

5.       Go back to school! Why? Because numerous education incentives have been extended two years. Nice incentive to graduate early?

6.       Uncle Sam generously boosted AMT exemption amounts for 2010 and 2011.

7.       Here’s a pile of nonrefundable personal credits. For example:

a. Dependent care credit
b. Credit for disabled and elderly
c. Child credit
d. Interest credit on certain home mortgages
e. Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning credits
f.  Non-business energy property credits
g. Residential energy efficient property credits
h. Plug-in electric vehicle credits
i. Alternative motor vehicle credits
j. And there’s more!

I don’t want to take all the credit but you should! Take your credits where you can get them! If you don’t have a money-saving, tax-cutting plan in place, you need to get with our Axe the Tax Program! It’s very simple.

We show you how to cut your taxes, legally, ethically, safely, and quickly to put more glide in your stride, more pride in your ride and more fun in your mun! Okay, that last bit was slightly over the top but my point is – Don’t pay taxes that Uncle Sam says you don’t have to!

Most American’s (especially, busy professionals with great cash flow) pay way too much in taxes because of three reasons.

1.      They don’t know how to reduce their taxes.

2.      They don’t have a plan to reduce their taxes

3.      They don’t have someone they trust to guide them to reduce their taxes.

None of those reasons is acceptable unless you like throwing away $10,000, $50,000, $500,000 in unnecessary taxes!

Remember, the above info is generalized and just for educational purposes. Everyone has a unique situation so talk to your tax planning professional before you do anything.

But REMEMBER! We put the AX in tAX. Please drop me a note if there is anything I can do to help you stash more cash! More tax saving tips from an earlier post.

Keep More – Leave More

Gabby Huguenin

208-263-7202

HURRY! The Tax Man Goes Retro! Tax Savings for 2011 Only!

The Clock has Been Turned Back on Certain Taxes but not for Long!

In my ongoing Axe the Tax campaign, I have been asked by a lot of doctors and other clients what some of the new tax changes will mean to their tax-reduction strategies.  It may seem a little strange but Uncle Sam really does give us ample money-saving opportunities to lower our taxes.  Unfortunately, the tax gods tend to make things a little too complicated for busy small business owners, doctors with thriving practices, and other mere mortals to grasp.

There are tons of new tax deductions available for the tax enlightened out there. So, if you have not been enlightened yet, let me tax-enlighten you a bit! Here are a few Tax Tips to look into and discuss with your tax advisor and/or CPA right now because they are going fast! Literally.

Retroactively Reinstated Tax Break – Extended through 2011

The following tax breaks for individuals that came to a screeching halt at the end of 2009 are back! They’ve been extended through the end of this year. Not perfect, but not bad! Take ‘em while you can get ‘em!

1.       The $250 above-the-line deduction for certain expenses of our beloved elementary and secondary school teachers. Yeah! They deserve a little extra help!

2.       The election to take itemized deductions for local and state general sales taxes instead of the itemized deductions permitted for local and state income taxes.

3.       An increased contribution limit and a carry forward period for contributions of appreciated real property for conservation purposes (may include partial interests in real property).

4.       An above-the-line deduction for your qualified tuition and other related expenses.

5.       This one’s BIG!  URGENT- The provision that permits taxpayers aged 70 ½ or older to make tax-free distributions to charities from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) in amounts up to $100k per tax payer per tax year. In addition, those individuals will be allowed to treat their IRA transfer to charitable organizations during January of 2011 as if it was made back in 2010. Retro is good! Talk to your tax advisor today!

6.       The treatment of any mortgage insurance premiums as a deductible of qualified residence interest and the exclusion of 100 percent of the gains on certain small-business stocks.

7.       Retro-refrigeration news: The energy efficient appliance credits may apply but they will be in new amounts and with some new requirements.

8.       The Code Sec. 25C credit for energy-efficient improvements made to existing homes. Reinstating the credit as it existing prior to the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The standards for which property is eligible under Code Sec. 25C have been updated to reflect improvements in current energy efficiency standards.

That’s the retro news and the tax-saving views from here! The clocks have been set back for a little bit so check with your tax pro and find out which way to go. The list above is far from complete but these are all tax-saving opportunities you should be aware of. Chat with your advisor or give me a call!

Understanding how to use the tax rules to your advantage is what I teach my students in a variety of programs. Find out more about our coaching programs and let’s Axe the Tax from your life! I’ll cover more on the tax changes soon but move quickly, some of these tax savings are only good for January 2011! Here’s more info on tax extensions.

Have a prosperous day!

Gabby Huguenin
Wealth Coach
208-263-7202

Lower Taxes in 4 Minutes, Watch This Video Podcast by Gabby Huguenin

Doctors want to reduce taxes. Attorneys want to reduce taxes.

Everyone wants to reduce taxes but too many of us don’t want to slow down enough to learn the simple secrets of cutting taxes. Lowering taxes, cutting taxes, and reducing taxes for doctors are regular topics on my blog.

Doctors and so many other professionals often put their businesses at risk by not setting up the proper entity structure. Even though you may be a Saint and nothing bad ever happens to you, what if the doctor down the hall (or partner down the hall) screws up and gets his butt sued?

How does that affect you? How does that affect the overall business? Watch this tax saving, hassle reducing video for the next four minutes and save yourself a boatload of money!

Learn how to grow your money in a tax advantaged environment AND learn to protect your assets with the proper legal entity. This is not tax or legal advice, just educational information. AND… information that could save you endless sleepless nights and thousands of dollars!

Have a prosperous day!

Gabby Huguenin

Wealth Coach

208-263-7202.

Six Ways Physicians Can Lower Taxes – Now!

Doctors  Can Lower Taxes If They are Willing to Act…  I say, “Axe The Tax!” Tax reduction for physicians is my specialty. I love doctors. I hate taxes. The problem most doctors have when it comes to taxes is that they don’t want to take the time to slow down and deal with the reality that making a great salary or generating substantial revenue does not automatically equate to more money in your pocket.

“Taxes will always be a bigger threat to your wealth than the markets”

Here are a few tax planning tips for physicians (and other professionals) that want to lower taxes and reduce future taxes:

1.      Get Your Head out of Your Assets. Just because you’ve created a beautiful office and a nice revenue flow doesn’t mean you’ve created a successful business model. Get your feet on the ground, your head out of the clouds and quit looking at the symbols of success and start focusing on the “systems of success.” An asset protection strategy is critical but if you don’t have a strategy you may not have those assets as long as you’d like.

2.      Prescribe a New Entity. After a deeper diagnosis, get serious about what you can and can’t control. You can’t control your patients. You can’t control the market or the economy. But… you CAN control your taxes. One of the best ways to do that is with the proper entity structure. That might be a physician’s corporation, an LLC, a partnership, or another combination of legal structures that allow you to minimize your tax liability.

3.      Pay Yourself first to Pay Less Later – Generating money and keeping it are two different things. Most doctors want to pay fewer taxes but you must pay yourself a little to save yourself a lot. By paying yourself a small salary, your overall tax liability may be lower because you will not have to pay FICA taxes on the dividends taken from a physician corporation.

4.      Be a Little Un-civil – Not your bedside manner of course, what I mean is that civil judgments in most states cannot attack your retirement accounts. So, contribute to your retirement accounts because it will reduce your taxes and it will protect your assets. Retirement plan contributions are not subject to income or FICA taxes so these contributions reduce your tax bill and protect your assets simultaneously.

5.      Did I Mention the Pension? If the physician corporation is the right legal entity for you, as its owner you may be able to establish a physician pension for yourself. Now you can fund a retirement vehicle for yourself and a deductable expense for your business. You do not need to take a significant salary in order to contribute to this type of pension and it does provide additional asset protection from legal predators.

6.      Hire an Expert – Find someone you trust to give you the honest and accurate feedback you need about your unique situation. In business, you must leverage your resources to get ahead or you are just trading your time for money. A wealth coach, a financial adviser, you tax professionals all have the ability to give you the leverage you need to go beyond where you are today. You don’t have to do it all alone and you don’t have to be a victim of the tax systems just because you are able to generate significant revenue.

Of course, all of the above are just education tax-saving tips! Every situation is unique so give me a call if I can be of assistance with any aspect of your wealth building or tax planning education.

Have a prosperous day.

Gabby Huguenin
Wealth Coach

208-263-7202

Disclaimer:
This information does not constitute a complete description of all or any one aspect of financial planning. There is no offer to sell or buy any financial product in this video or on our website. Please consult with a qualified financial, legal and/or tax professional before investing or modifying any aspect of your taxes, assets or finances. This information is strictly educational.

Tax Planning for Doctors – Why a Wealth Team is Critical to Every Physician’s Retirement Plan

Tax planning for doctors is all too often put at the end of the long list of to do’s for fast-moving professionals. Part of any physician’s wealth building strategy needs to include personal advisors, wealth coaches, and industry specific legal and financial experts. I believe it is very important to learn all you can about wealth building strategies but that doesn’t mean you have to know everything and do everything yourself.

Nobody becomes wealthy without a team effort. Athletes don’t get to the Olympics without a great coach, students don’t graduate from medical school without great professors, bosses can’t do their job without great assistants and people don’t become wealthy without a wealth team.

Raymond Aaron, founder of “The Monthly Mentor” once said, “If you don’t have an assistant, you are one.”

Tax Planning for Doctors – in 30 Seconds?
High net worth tax planning is not exclusive to doctors and it is not something you should do on your own.  Financial advice for doctors shouldn’t come from the 30-second money making tips on tonight’s nightly news. So, whether you are a doctor, dentist or any other professional too busy to slow down and plan, ask yourself, these three questions:

  • Who is on my wealth team and how qualified are they?
  • Who should I be removing from and/or adding to my wealth team?
  • What can I do today to improve this team?
    • Have clear goals that they all understand
    • Have regularly scheduled communications with clear agendas
    • Make sure expectations of performance and measures are crystal clear

If you are fortunate enough to be generating significant income but realize that you are paying way too much in taxes maybe this is the time to enhance your financial team with a wealth coach and a team of advisors to help you find legitimate business tax write offs and new ways to keep more of your hard earned cash in your pocket.

And finally, here’s a few words from one of my wealth coaching clients…

“I just wanted to shoot you off a quick note to say thank you for your guidance. Your coaching has opened my eyes to a world of opportunities. It’s amazing that after being a CPA for over 25 years, I was not aware of so many the tax saving strategies. Your coaching has helped personally as well as with my business. I couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks again.”

– Lynne H, CPA

Have a prosperous day!

Gabby Huguenin
Wealth Coach
208-263-7202

P.S. If tax planning techniques bore you or intimidate you and small business tax deductions just aren’t your thing, then maybe it’s time to expand your wealth team.  I’ve saved my clients nearly 14 million dollars in tax dollars in recent years. Feel free to give me a call!

Are you giving your Cash to the IRS again this year?

A wise friend just told me yet again “Gabby, just focus on the cash.”

Specifically she said: have the systems in place for the cash to continue to come in and it will continue to do so.

Oh, and one other big point – Go after the one that will bring in a stream of consistent cash now.

Being that I am a master of certain systems, you  the readers here in this scenario can actually gain something of value here so let’s cut to the chase:

What is a way to redeem and recoup cash right now that you can delegate to a Wealth Team advisor / member?

Let us Axe The Tax!

I heard that today is the biggest shopping day of the year.

(Well supposed to be the largest shopping day of the year.)

If the IRS isn’t one of the stops when shopping online or out at a “real” place that you’d like to be swiping your debit card, or spending your vat of cash with, than rally your ear, dear one. What does this mean? Well, we don’t have to totally bore you with detail down to the code, but you do need someone on your Wealth Team who does have that code in their humble abode, so you don’t get snowed!

There are some major potential tax savings questions we could ask over a cup of cocoa

Do you have the right record keeping systems in place?

Are they current accurate systems?

Do you know your numbers?

Do you the right tax planning / bookkeeping / CPA in place?

Do you have the right entity structures in place?

Do you have a current profit and loss statement for each business you have in place?

The answers to the above questions can make for a great new year.

When you have the right record keeping systems in place, they are current, accurate and you know your numbers, you can have your bookkeeping staff educated ** with the information on how your CPA wants information plugged in your profit and loss statement and pulled to send to them, and the documentation you are going to need to support your tax deductions for the year. Typically you get the major logistics of this set up the first year and then annually review and update.

**Educated note above: Each time you take time to educate staff on something that is repetitive that may need to be explained to over and over again in case of turn over etc… do a procedures manual in audio and written format, it’s a pain the first time but a life saver over the long run – 208-263-7202 ask about the procedures manual Connector Call.

It meant the difference between a 28% + tax bracket and an average less than 15% for our students.

THIS CAN BE YOU

THIS SHOULD BE YOU

Give yourself a Christmas Bonus Come Early

That  lucky 13% average difference that is recouped and back in your pocket can be used for many other exciting things to be explored next time…

Remember! Let’s legally axe the tax and the Team Work Makes the Dream Work – Over and out.

Gabby Huguenin

Legacy Wealth Building, LLC

208-263-7202

High Net Worth Tax Planning for the Too Busy to do Tax Planning

Hey Doctors! Thanks for the calls this weekend on my post about tax planning high income solutions for the medical professional. Asset protection for clinics, hospitals, and doctors is a very hot topic right now. Any tax planning needs to include a strategy for protecting your assets from those pocketbook preditors!

Have a healthy and wealthy day!

Gabby Huguenin
Wealth Coach

208-263-7202

P.S. If you’re facing some tax challenges, cash flow issues, or need solid asset protection strategies give me a call! We have a number of powerful wealth building programs to help you in the process of building financial freedom.