For high net-worth individuals, tax planning requires a proactive approach to obtain the best results.  Economic and legislative changes are uncertain as it pertains to the tax code and any expiring benefits.  There is no certainty 2015 will see the same extenders 2014 did and there are many steps you can take now to protect you and your businesses assets.  In taking this approach, the decisions you make now should be instrumental in preserving your wealth – not just for your own future, but for that of the next generation as well.

Tax season officially kicked off January 20, 2015, as scheduled, even with late tax extender law passage on December 19, and cuts in IRS funding.  Those filing paper returns this year, however, will have their refunds delayed an additional week or longer due to the cuts in funding.  We are also told the wait times if you call the IRS are expected to be much longer this tax season.  This is the lowest level of funding since 2008, and the lowest since 1998 when inflation is considered, according to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. 

For those that may have missed it, the President signed into law a “tax extender” bill in December that extended a number of existing tax benefits and credits that would have otherwise expired as of 12/31/13.  The law extended them only through the 2014 tax year.  For the 2015 filing year most of these extenders will probably be eliminated.

Some of the extensions that were restored which may benefit you include:

In December 2014, Congress passed a tax extender bill that was then signed by the President, which extended tax write-off provisions for tax filing year 2014.  Previous to this Bill, these provisions were scheduled to expire on 12/31/13.  

Some of the extensions that were restored which may benefit you include:

• IRC §179 expensing of business purchased equipment and/or software from $25,000 to the previous $500,000 value and raising the purchase amount limit from $200,000 to $2,000,000.

Over 340 international companies have made secret deals in Luxemburg to save billions of dollars in taxes while maintaining little presence in the country based on leaked documents tied to the transactions.  These large companies can save in taxes by creating accounting and legal structures in Luxemburg to effectively pay tax rates less than 1 percent of the profits shifted in this country.  The leaked documents included diagrams of the complicated business structures and hundreds of pages of private tax rulings.  These letters asked for favorable tax treatment for the corpor