Tax Planning
We offer annual tax planning as part of our comprehensive financial planning service. While often overlooked, robust tax planning is one of the most valuable pieces of a complete financial plan.
What is tax planning?
Tax planning refers to our review of your tax return to identify potential planning opportunities - both now and in the future - to hopefully minimize your lifetime tax liability. This is different than tax preparation (usually done by your CPA or an online service like TurboTax), which is focused on keeping you compliant with what the government thinks you owe each year. We don’t prepare tax returns.
Why is tax planning important?
Taxes touch every part of your financial life. Your tax return is a financial fingerprint: it's completely unique to you, complete with valuable clues and information, all of which is buried in dozens of pages and hundreds of numbers. Understanding your taxes allows us to have more valuable and actionable conversations with you. We can also help demystify the world of income taxes and help you understand this important piece of your financial picture.
Who is tax planning for?
Everyone! Regardless of your income sources or filing status, nearly anyone who pays income taxes can benefit from having a professional review of your tax return to identify relevant planning opportunities. At worst, we'll review your return and conclude you are currently maximizing every available tax saving opportunity – and that’s always great news. Alternatively – and frequently – we identify a handful of potential tax saving opportunities, both in the current year and in future years.
Liberty and justice may be for all, but many tax breaks only come to those who plan!
What kind of opportunities might be identified?
We will evaluate several opportunities during tax planning, including topics like tax efficient retirement vehicles, charitable giving strategies, realizing capital gains, Roth IRA conversions, tax credit eligibility, and more. We can look at scenarios to see how potential changes (e.g., filing status, dependents, the sale of a business, stock option exercises, etc.) may impact your upcoming tax liability.
What do we need from you?
An electronic PDF copy of your most recent tax return. That’s it! We will provide a secure upload link, and we’ll take it from there.
Click here to see a sample tax report we will prepare.
This material was prepared by Holistiplan and Glen Starr, CFP®.
Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC.
LPL Financial and Glen Starr do not offer tax advice or tax services.
LPL Tracking # 1-05370499