More Than Your Fair Share
“Anyone may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one’s taxes.”
Gregory v. Helvering, 293 U.S, 465 (1935), a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court, set rigid standards and also acknowledged that the tax law allows various deductions, credits, and allowances for use by a taxpayer. This form of “tax avoidance” is legal and supportive of the Congressional intent to encourage particular economic behaviors by the taxpayer, for example, owning a home. However, these “incentives” are difficult to find within the U.S. Tax Code, which is not your cozy, fireside reading material.
The difficulty of interpreting and applying the U.S. Tax Code drives many taxpayers to seek assistance in preparing and filing their tax returns. The best tax preparers will ask you to complete a questionnaire and then utilize tax forms, statements, receipts, and miscellaneous documents to enter data into their tax software. After a rigorous review process, the final tax return is ready for signature and filing. Mission accomplished, and although you are one of the 99.9% of U.S. taxpayers who believe they pay too much in tax, you are ready to move on
It is possible that the real reason you might have paid too much tax is that you did not plan to pay less! For our firm, our tax-saving pencils are never down because when the “ball drops” on April 15th, we are already starting to plan for the new tax year. Without question, the most significant value received by our tax clients results from our tax planning, not just the preparation of their returns.
Continue reading to learn the six factors that contribute to our successful tax planning process.
