An experienced business attorney can help you keep more of your income, protect your assets, and prepare for personal and business growth. At France Law Firm, our tax attorneys and business law attorneys help Florida businesses and families create proactive strategies that deliver lasting financial benefits.

What Early Tax Planning Really Means for Tallahassee Businesses and Families

Everyone knows to gather receipts in February and March and hire a tax accountant in the spring. It’s something you should do year-round so you understand how legal, financial and personal decisions will affect your tax position before it’s too late to make changes. This also means retaining an experienced tax attorney who can advise you on the best tax strategy for your situation.

Tax preparation focuses on compliance, including filing accurate tax returns and meeting deadlines, while early tax planning focuses on strategy. It anticipates how you should legally reduce your tax burden to position yourself for stability and growth.

Working with a business tax attorney ensures your plan integrates with your overall legal structure. It can mean restructuring your entity, deferring income, optimizing asset depreciation or aligning business budgeting with long-term financial goals. When you plan your taxes early, you have time to change factors that could decrease your tax bill.

How Early Tax Planning Benefits Tallahassee Businesses

Business owners face unique tax challenges, including managing operating expenses and meeting federal and state obligations. The earlier you plan, the more flexibility you have in reducing taxable income and maximizing deductions.

Many tax-saving strategies have a deadline of December 31, including purchasing new equipment, pre-paying certain expenses, and contributing to employee retirement plans. A business tax attorney can help you identify industry-specific deductions and credits.

Additional strategies may include:

• Proactive planning to avoid penalties and cash flow issues
• Ensuring you have the correct entity structure, e.g., corporation, LLC, non-profit, S-Corp, as they are taxed differently
• Strategically planning for employee compensation, e.g, coordinating financial and legal strategies for compensation packages

How Early Tax Planning Protects Families

Tax planning isn’t only for business owners. It’s also crucial for families. Without careful planning, your interconnected business and personal finances can create unexpected tax burdens. An experienced business tax attorney can help:

• Coordinate personal and business income
• Reduce estate and inheritance taxes
• Optimize retirement and education savings
• Protect family assets through legal structuring

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even well-intentioned business owners and families can make preventable errors that could cost thousands of dollars every year. Some of the most costly mistakes include:

• Waiting until filing season, as most savings opportunities have expired
• Ignoring life changes such as marriage, divorce, new children, children going out on their own, real estate purchases, and adding business partners
• Failing to seek professional help, as do-it-yourself tax software often does not identify complex savings related to business ownership, estates, and trust considerations

The best time to start tax planning is before the year’s last quarter, though working with an experienced tax attorney year-round allows you enough time to make strategic investments or change your tax structure and capitalize on credits.

We work with accountants and financial advisors, and we use our attorney’s estate planning experience to deliver the best strategies to reduce your tax liability. Whether you operate a family-run company or a growing enterprise, we can help you navigate Florida’s complex tax landscape.

Don’t Wait Until Tax Season—Secure Your Business and Family’s Financial Future Today!

Instead of letting another tax season catch you by surprise, contact France Law Firm at 850-224-1040 or by filling out our online contact form to implement a proactive tax plan that protects your business and your family’s financial future.

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The Tax Benefits of Charitable Giving

When you donate to qualified charitable organizations, you can reduce your overall tax liability. This type of deduction is valuable to those earning a high income, helping them minimize their tax burden while supporting worthy causes at the same time.

To maximize tax deductions, you should consider several factors, including:

• Choose the Right Charitable Vehicle: Common options for charitable giving include charitable remainder trusts, donor-advised funds, cash donations, and private foundations. Each type has its benefits, including control over funds and tax efficiency. Your estate planning attorney and tax attorneys can help you choose the best charitable vehicle for your situation.
• Leverage Appreciated Assets: By donating appreciated assets, such as artwork or real estate, you can support your favorite charity and maximize your tax deductions. In many cases, if you held the asset for over a year, you can deduct the asset’s fair market value when you donate. In addition to minimizing your tax burden, you could avoid paying capital gains tax. Other assets may include restricted stock, publicly traded securities, private equity fund interests, post-IPO stock, cryptocurrency, equity compensation awards, and privately held business interests.
• Qualified Charitable Distributions: If you are 70.5 years or older and required to take minimum distributions from your retirement accounts, you can transfer funds from your IRA to a charity without realizing taxable income from the distribution.
• Use Bunching Strategies and Optimize Timing: If you can bunch more than a year’s worth of charitable deductions and optimize the timing, for example, by coordinating charitable donations with significant financial events, you could increase your tax savings. Bunching may benefit those who can now take the much higher standard deduction. For example, if you donate for two years in one year, you can itemize in 2023 and then take the standard deduction in 2024.

Charitable Giving and Estate Planning

Charitable giving can also affect the amount of taxes your estate pays. Strategic charitable giving can maximize wealth transfer to your heirs by using various vehicles. Your tax attorneys and estate planning attorneys at France Law Firm can help you structure your charitable giving to minimize not only your yearly tax obligation but also your estate tax obligation.

Obligations for Charitable Giving: Documentation and Record-Keeping

To take advantage of charitable giving, you must document your donations and keep the documentation to prove your donations to the Internal Revenue Service. When you submit your receipts to your tax attorney at France Law Firm, your attorney can include the donations as long as they are to qualified charitable organizations.

Documents may include receipts, appraisals for non-cash assets you donated, and letters of acknowledgment from charitable organizations. Your attorney can use this documentation to file the required tax forms to receive a tax deduction without incurring potential penalties if you exceed certain thresholds.

Contact France Law Firm

Charitable giving and tax planning are complex aspects of your finances. A tax attorney can help you claim charitable giving on your taxes and estate to maximize tax deductions. Your tax and estate planning attorney can help you choose the right philanthropic vehicle and leverage appreciated assets to maximize your tax deductions.

Contact a tax and estate planning attorney at France Law Firm for a consultation by calling 850-224-1040.

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Taxes for 2023 and 2024

You may not think the upcoming changes for 2024 are important right now since you will be filing for 2023. However, those changes may affect your long-term tax plans, whether for your estate or your business. France Law Firm has an estate planning attorney who is also a business tax attorney who can help ensure your estate plan, business plan, and tax plan all work together to benefit you now.

Taxes for 2024 apply to the tax returns you file in 2025, while taxes for 2023 apply to the tax returns you file in 2024 (current year).

Per-Barrel Oil Tax

The Inflation Reduction Act reinstated the Hazardous Substance Superfund, which adds yet another tax to each barrel of oil. This tax affects anyone who itemizes and claims fuel for their businesses, as the oil companies are going to pass that tax onto businesses and individuals. While the tax is new in 2023, it is retroactive to Dec. 31, 2016.

Standard Deduction

The standard deduction is changing for 2024. In 2023, it is $27,700 for a couple married filing jointly. For 2024 (taxes filed in 2025), you will have an increase of $1,500 for a standard deduction of $29,200. Rates for other filing statuses are:

• Single People and Those Married Filing Separately: $13,850 for 2023 and $14,600 for 2024
• Heads of Households: $20,800 for 2023 and $21,900 for 2024

Marginal Rates

The tax brackets are remaining the same as the 2023 tax brackets. For 2023 and 2024, the top rate is 37 percent for individuals making over $609,350 and for married couples filing jointly making over $731,200. The additional brackets are as follows:

• 35 percent for individuals making over $243,725 and married couples filing jointly making $487,450
• 32 percent for individuals making over $191,950 and married couples filing jointly making over 383,900
• 24 percent for individuals making over $100,525 and married couples filing jointly making over $201,050
• 22 percent for individuals making over $47,150 and married couples filing jointly making over 94,300
• 12 percent for individuals making over $11,600 and married couples filing joint making over $23,200
• 10 percent for individuals making $11,600 or less or married couples filing jointly making $23,200 or less

Alternative Minimum Tax

The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) limits deductions. If an individual or married couple itemizing has too many deductions, the AMT kicks in, so you can’t lower your tax responsibility too much. In 2023, the AMT exemption is $81,300 and starts to phase out at $578,150 for individuals and 126,500, phasing out at $1,156,300 for couples filing jointly.

For 2024, the AMT kicks in at $85,700 for individuals and starts to phase out at $1,156,300.

Earned Income Tax Credit

Qualifying taxpayers who have at least three qualifying children can receive an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) of $7,830 in 2024 and $7,430 in 2023.

Estate and Gift Taxes

The basic exclusion for estate taxes (commonly known as the Federal Death Tax) for those who died in 2023 is $12,920,00, and in 2024, $13,610,000.

The annual gift tax exclusion is $17,000 for 2023 and $18,000 for 2024.

Contact France Law Firm

These are just a few of the taxes that will affect the average person or couple filing jointly. Several other changes include the limitation for the qualified transportation fringe benefit, employee salary deductions for contributions to health flexible spending accounts, self-only coverage in Medicare Savings Accounts, foreign earned income, and the maximum credit allowed for adoptions.

When it’s time to start your taxes for 2023 and if you need to make changes to your estate plan based on tax changes for this year and next year, contact a tax attorney and estate planning attorney at France Law Firm for a consultation.

The post Understanding the New Tax Laws: What You Need to Know for the Upcoming Year appeared first on France Law Firm.

Filing Earlier Than the IRS Open Date

You may file a paper return earlier than the date the IRS starts accepting electronic returns, but you will not get your refund faster. Your tax return will sit in the queue until the IRS starts processing returns. Additionally, you may not have the correct information needed to file a return that early. Last year, employers had until Feb. 1 to send you your W-2 or 1099. Additionally, if you were to receive a 1099-B, 1099-Misc or 1099-S, the issuing company had until Feb. 15 to get those mailed to you.

The W-2s and 1099s have information on them that is not contained on your last paycheck, so you do have to wait for them. Thus, even though the IRS starts accepting returns earlier in January, you may not even be able to file until the middle of February.

Receiving a Refund

In most cases, the IRS will process your tax return in less than 21 days. However, if you are claiming the Additional Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Tax Credit, the IRS will not issue a refund prior to a certain date. Last year, it was Feb. 15. The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 does not allow the IRS to process those returns earlier as the IRS must examine your return to prevent fraud. Those who have claimed those credits fraudulently were part of the reason for a tax increase.

Benefits of Filing Taxes Early

Even if you owe money to the IRS, filing early provides additional benefits. If the IRS owes you money, you get your return faster. And, if you use e-file as soon as you have all of the documentation you need, you’ll get your refund even quicker. According to this TurboTax article, it could take the IRS several weeks longer to process a paper return.

Another benefit to filing as early as possible is that it thwarts identity thieves. A thief is able to file a tax return in your name as long as he or she has your social security number. With that information, the thief is able to steal your refund. Usually, thieves try this early in the season, hoping that they beat you to it to claim your refund.

If you owe taxes to the IRS, filing early still benefits you. Prepare your return as early as possible so you have time to save up the payment if needed. If you wait until the last minute the amount due could be an unpleasant surprise. And, if you don’t have the money by the due date, the IRS will penalize you.

Early filing also helps you avoid the rigamarole of filing for an extension. If you wait too long, you may have to ask for extra time to find receipts and documentation for deductions. If you file an extension, you still have to pay your taxes by the due date, so that doesn’t help you at all. In fact, it could be harmful. If you file the amount due without completing your taxes, you could overpay and it will take some time to get that extra money back. Starting your tax return early gives you the time to find receipts or documentation for deductions you might have thought you had.

Finally, one of the biggest benefits of filing early is the availability of the information you will need if you are purchasing a house or if you are applying for financial aid for college. If you wait, you will have to put off submitting that documentation and may miss application or closing deadlines. You may also miss out on a better interest rate if you don’t have all of your documentation or you may even lose your dream house to another person who is able to close faster.

Contact France Law Firm

If you have any tax questions or concerns, contact France Law Firm for a consultation with our tax attorney.

The post How Early Should be Filing Taxes? appeared first on France Law Firm.

Pay a penalty fee: There are two kinds of “not doing” your taxes — failing to file and failing to pay. If you fail to file, you get hit with a penalty of 5 percent of the tax owed, up to five months out, with a minimum penalty of $135, or as much as 100 percent of the tax owed — whichever is less. If you don’t pay, you’re typically charged a penalty.

Receive a federal tax lien. It sounds technical, but basically, a lien is a claim the IRS makes to your property. This claim, however, isn’t another notice you can shove in a drawer. According to IRS Publication 594, a lien is a public declaration of the agency’s claim to your property in relation to your other creditors. Not only may it be filed to employers, landlords, and creditors, but the lien can make you …

Lose ground on your credit report. An unpaid debt to the IRS is just like an unpaid debt to anyone else, and it will appear on your credit report. People don’t realize that your credit report reflects your tax liens as much as any other outstanding debt. We won’t even pretend that it could be considered “good debt.”

Have your property seized. A lien is a claim to your property; a levy is the actual taking of it. IRS Publication 594 makes it clear that in some cases, the agency can appropriate your house or car, not to mention your income or bank account. They might restrain themselves if it’s agreed that you’re suffering “economic hardship,” which means their seizure would hinder your ability to meet “basic, reasonable living expenses.” Plus, the publication reads, “If there’s money left over from the sale [of your assets] after paying off your tax debt, we’ll tell you how to get a refund.”

Receive a summons. If the IRS is having trouble sorting out the taxes you owe, you could get a summons — that’s a legal requirement to appear — to meet with an IRS officer, and bring appropriate records, documents, and possibly even testify. It won’t necessarily be you who is asked to meet with the agency: A third party with information relevant to your case, such as a record keeper from a financial institution, could be summoned instead. If the IRS is simply gathering info, you’ll be informed of the third-party summons, but if it’s in reference to money it’s already clear you owe, you might not even find out.

Declare bankruptcy. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to this. People who might declare bankruptcy are the people who couldn’t pay their taxes because they couldn’t afford to pay their mortgage or expenses and get caught in a bit of a bind. Usually it’s people who are caught for three or four years not filing, spending the money they didn’t pay the IRS on things to try and stay above water. Remember that bankruptcy isn’t magic: While in certain cases, a tax debt can be discharged, if it has turned into a tax lien, it might not be erased. Instead the IRS will generally suspend the debt and seek to collect it after bankruptcy.

Deal with the IRS for a decade. Did we mention that the government has the right to pursue unpaid taxes for 10 years? While there are certain appeals and exceptions for individual cases, if you’ve been a negligent taxpayer (or rather, non-taxpayer) you can look forward to a long and close relationship with the IRS.

However, there’s hope.

The absolute best thing you can do if you’ve neglected to file or pay is reach out to the IRS immediately. It may seem counterintuitive, but the agency is more likely to look kindly on someone who admits they’re off track and wants to work it out than someone who has been lining the litter box with their notices. You may be able to negotiate a payment plan or even a reduction of the total owed.

If you have concerns about your taxes, and how to best address them, contact France Law Firm today. We’ll be happy to assist with any tax preparation to prevent these catastrophes from happening in the future.

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