March 2023 Newsletter
Legal Lines News
Estate Planning and Elder Law
Taxes That Can Impact Your Estate Plan
A comprehensive estate plan should consider the impact that taxes can have on your estate and ensure that your estate is distributed in a tax-efficient manner. Learn more about the taxes that can impact you and your estate plan.
Balancing Act: What Matters Most to You?
When people begin getting their affairs in order through the creation of an estate plan, they often face a delicate balancing act between saving on income and estate taxes, protecting their hard-earned savings from their ultimate beneficiaries’ creditors, and providing maximum benefit to their loved ones. Finding the right balance requires careful consideration of the different legal and financial tools available to help you fulfill the vision of your estate plan.
Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Taxes?
Test your tax knowledge with this short quiz about our tax system.
Are You Transitioning to Medicare?
Want to see Medicare explained simply? Are you new to Medicare, getting ready for open enrollment, or have some burning questions? Please join us to on Thursday, April 27th at 12PM for a 30-minute webinar (via Zoom) to discussion Medicare with Russ Swallow, a Certified Senior Advisor™ and WCRN 830 AM Radio show host of “The Medicare Advisor.” Russ will cover all the “moving parts” of Medicare with simple explanations. He will also be available after the presentation should you have questions. Attendees will receive the “Medicare Cheat Sheet” which is a snapshot of all the basics you’ll need to understand.
A Personal Note From Susana
It’s Tax Time! Lessons in How to be nice to the IRS.
My late Father hated the IRS and any other taxing authority he ever dealt with. That’s because, despite having had an accountant, he thought he knew better; And “to hell with those agents” in the IRS who contradicted him. Needless to say he was always the subject of multiple audits. Often, the consequence was that he paid more, not less. This was because he antagonized the wrong people. Those people paid him back by finding all sorts of “wrongs” committed by his accountant.
My lesson from all of this is “Don’t mess with the IRS!” And I usually tell that to any client who will listen. This “not messing” includes any other taxing agency. And it also includes having the most reliable accountant to do your taxes. And don’t be afraid to pay them to do it. Avoid doing the taxes on your own. If you do end up being audited, you have the accountant to explain what he or she did with your taxes and why. There are also people called “enrolled agents” who can assist you if the problems get more serious like my Father’s difficulties.
Another lesson is to prepare the documentation that your accountant will need to fill out your tax returns. Accountants will often provide a list of what they are looking for.
A final lesson is to try to do your part of the prep work well in advance of April 18th. You are likely to get a better reception from your accountant, and a very accurate return. This might enable you to pass the tax season and not extend the time for payment. In other words, just get it over with!
We hope the material in this newsletter will be helpful. It is good to have an idea of the types of taxes that exist. If you are an existing client and need a referral to a good accountant, do not hesitate to call Lannik Law.
Susana Lannik