Category: Wealth Management

Adjusting Your Withholding If You Receive a Large Refund

Although the experience of getting a large tax refund can be quite nice, many people don’t realize that it’s not optimal. The reason is receiving a large annual refund means someone is actually missing out on a larger total amount of money.

The simple explanation of why that’s the case is if you consistently receive a large refund, it means too much of what you make is being held out of your pay. So even though people often find getting a large refund convenient because they’re able to put it towards a large purchase or paying off a specific debt, it’s important to remember that this money belongs to that individual. By letting the IRS hold it for most of the year, people are turning over the opportunity to earn any interest from it.

 

The Why and How of Adjusting Your Withholding

A simple exercise for seeing the impact that adjusting your withholding can have on your monthly income is to take your most recent tax refund and divide it by twelve. That figure will give you a general estimate of what you could add to your monthly take-home pay. While you do eventually get the total amount back in the form of a refund, receiving it over the course of a year provides the opportunity to invest or at the very least earn a little interest from a savings account.

If you decide that it makes sense for you to adjust your tax withholding, you may have an opportunity if your employer asks about this issue in December or January. But even if they don’t, you can make a change at any time by filling out a new W-4 and then handing it in. The rule of thumb for anyone who consistently receives a big refund is to increase the number of personal allowances. And if you want to make this adjustment because you consistently end up owing taxes, decreasing personal allowances is generally the best way to go.

Since finding the right balance can be a little tricky, you may want to use a withholding calculator to help you out. It’s also worth noting that other times to review your current withholding are when you or your spouse get more than one job. The same is true if you have children, get divorced, buy a home or get married.

Knowing if you need to adjust your withholding is just one example of the type of issue that can directly affect your finances. If you want to be sure that your tax situation is fully optimized, be sure to take a look at our tax return preparation service.

 

Using Retirement Plan Contributions to Reduce Your AGI

AGI stands for adjusted gross income. This number sets the threshold for certain deductions such as medical expenses. It also determines eligibility for tax credits like the retirement savings credit and American opportunity credit. As its name implies, AGI is something that can change based on certain factors. That’s why we want to cover the effect that contributing to your IRA can have on it, along with another aspect of a retirement plan contribution that can reduce tax liability.

 

How Traditional IRA Contributions Adjust Income

When you make a contribution to a traditional IRA, it receives classification as an adjustment to income. The impact this will have on adjusted gross income is reducing it on a dollar-for-dollar basis. So if you make a fully qualified contribution of $3,000, that’s the exact amount your AGI will be reduced.

While that’s the basic overview of how this type of contribution affects AGI, as with many aspects of the tax code, there are some important considerations to take into account. One is how much of a traditional IRA contribution is deductible. For an unmarried individual who isn’t covered by an employer plan like a 401(k), the amount contributed will be fully deductible.

For people who are married, this type of contribution is only guaranteed to be deductible when neither spouse is part of an employer-sponsored retirement plan. If that criteria is met, contributions made will reduce adjusted gross income. It’s worth noting that while contributing to a Roth IRA can be a smart financial decision, this specific contribution won’t reduce AGI due to it involving after-tax dollars.

 

other Important Notes About Contributions and Retirement Plans

Even for people who are single, if they are covered by an employer plan and their AGI exceeds a certain threshold, their traditional IRA contribution won’t be deducted. Another thing to keep in mind about both traditional and Roth IRA contributions is they can qualify you for the retirement savings credit. If you’re eligible for this credit and claim it, you’ll be able to directly reduce your tax liability.

What’s interesting about the retirement savings credit is even though it lowers tax liability, it does not reduce AGI. That’s because it’s classified as a credit and not a deduction. The main criteria for claiming this credit are being over 18, having a modified AGI that falls below a specified level and not being a full-time student.

As this issue demonstrates, optimizing your tax situation can be quite a challenge. If this is something you want to do but are feeling overwhelmed by the number of questions you have, the best way to get answers and guidance is by enlisting the help of our professional tax services.