With rising interest rates, inflation, and continuing market volatility, tax planning is as essential as ever for taxpayers looking to manage cash flow while paying the least amount of taxes possible over time. As we approach the end of the year, now is the time for individuals, business owners, and family offices to review their 2024 and 2025 tax situations and identify opportunities for reducing, deferring, or accelerating their tax obligations.
The information contained in this article is based on federal laws and policies in effect as of the publication date. This article discusses tax planning for U.S. federal income taxes. Applicable state and foreign taxes should also be considered. Taxpayers should consult with a trusted advisor when making tax and financial decisions regarding any of the items below.
Taxpayers should consider whether they can reduce their tax bills by shifting income or deductions between 2024 and 2025. Ideally, income should be received in the year with the lower marginal tax rate, and deductible expenses should be paid in the year with the higher marginal tax rate. If the marginal tax rate is the same in both years, deferring income from 2024 to 2025 will produce a one-year tax deferral, and accelerating deductions from 2025 to 2024 will lower the 2024 income tax liability.
Actions to consider that may result in a reduction or deferral of taxes include:
Taxpayers that will be in a higher tax bracket in 2025 may want to consider potential ways to move taxable income from 2025 into 2024, so that the taxable income is taxed at a lower tax rate. Current-year actions to consider that could reduce 2025 taxes include:
The long-term capital gains rates for 2024 and 2025 are shown below. The tax brackets refer to the taxpayer’s taxable income. Capital gains also may be subject to the 3.8% net investment income tax.
2024 Long-Term Capital Gains Rate Brackets
2025 Long-Term Capital Gains Rate Brackets
Long-term capital gains (and qualified dividends) are subject to a lower tax rate than other types of income. Investors should consider the following when planning for capital gains:
Net Investment Income Tax
An additional 3.8% net investment income tax (NIIT) applies on net investment income above certain thresholds. The NIIT does not apply to income derived in the ordinary course of a trade or business in which the taxpayer materially participates. Similarly, gain on the disposition of trade or business assets attributable to an activity in which the taxpayer materially participates is not subject to the NIIT.
Impacted taxpayers may want to consider deferring net investment income for the year, in conjunction with other tax planning strategies that may be implemented to reduce income tax or capital gains tax.
Social Security Tax
The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program is funded by contributions from employees and employers through FICA tax. The FICA tax rate for both employees and employers is 6.2% of the employee’s gross pay, but is imposed only on wages up to $168,600 for 2024 and $176,100 for 2025. Self-employed persons pay a similar tax, called SECA (or self-employment tax), based on 12.4% of the net income of their businesses.
Employers, employees, and self-employed persons also pay a tax for Medicare/Medicaid hospitalization insurance (HI), which is part of the FICA tax, but is not capped by the OASDI wage base. The HI payroll tax is 2.9%, which applies to earned income only. Self-employed persons pay the full amount, while employers and employees each pay 1.45%. An extra 0.9% Medicare (HI) payroll tax must be paid by individual taxpayers on earned income that is above certain AGI thresholds: $200,000 for individuals, $250,000 for married couples filing jointly, and $125,000 for married couples filing separately. However, employers do not pay this extra tax.
Long-Term Care Insurance and Services
Premiums an individual pays on a qualified long-term care insurance policy are deductible as a medical expense. The maximum deduction amount is determined by an individual’s age. The following table sets forth the deductible limits for 2024 and the estimated deductible limits for 2025 (the limitations are per person, not per return):
Retirement Plan Contributions
Individuals may want to maximize their annual contributions to qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
The foreign earned income exclusion is $126,500 in 2024 and increases to $130,000 in 2025.
Alternative Minimum Tax
A taxpayer must pay either the regular income tax or the alternative minimum tax (AMT), whichever is higher. The established AMT exemption amounts for 2024 are $85,700 for unmarried individuals and individuals claiming head of household status, $133,300 for married individuals filing jointly and surviving spouses, $66,650 for married individuals filing separately, and $29,900 for estates and trusts. The AMT exemption amounts for 2025 are $88,100 for unmarried individuals and individuals claiming head of household status, $137,000 for married individuals filing jointly and surviving spouses, $68,500 for married individuals filing separately, and $30,700 for estates and trusts.
Kiddie Tax
The unearned income of a child is taxed at the parents’ tax rates if those rates are higher than the child’s tax rate.
Limitation on Deductions of State and Local Taxes (SALT Limitation)
For individual taxpayers who itemize their deductions, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act introduced a $10,000 limit on deductions of state and local taxes paid during the year ($5,000 for married individuals filing separately). The limitation applies to taxable years beginning on or after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026. Various states have enacted new rules that allow owners of pass-through entities to avoid the SALT deduction limitation in certain cases.
Charitable Contributions
Cash contributions made to qualifying charitable organizations, including donor-advised funds, in 2024 and 2025 will be subject to a 60% AGI limitation. The limitations for cash contributions continue to be 30% of AGI for contributions to non-operating private foundations.
Tax planning around charitable contributions may include:
Estate and Gift Taxes
For gifts made in 2024, the gift tax annual exclusion is $18,000 and for 2025 it is $19,000. For 2024, the unified estate and gift tax exemption and generation-skipping transfer tax exemption is $13,610,000 per person. For 2025, the unified estate and gift tax exemption and generation-skipping transfer tax exemption is $13,990,000. All outright gifts to a spouse who is a U.S. citizen are free of federal gift tax. However, for 2024 and 2025, only the first $185,000 and $190,000, respectively, of gifts to a non-U.S. citizen spouse is excluded from the total amount of taxable gifts for the year.
Tax planning strategies may include:
Net Operating Losses and Excess Business Loss Limitation
Net operating losses (NOLs) generated in 2024 are limited to 80% of taxable income and are not permitted to be carried back. Any unused NOLs are carried forward subject to the 80% of taxable income limitation in carryforward years.
A non-corporate taxpayer may deduct net business losses of up to $305,000 ($610,000 for joint filers) in 2024. The limitation is $313,000 ($626,000 for joint filers) for 2025. A disallowed excess business loss (EBL) is treated as an NOL carryforward in the subsequent year, subject to the NOL rules. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the EBL limitation has been extended through the end of 2028.
Meeting with your trusted Tax Advisor is key to ensure that you're on the right track and headed into another successful year. Your advisor can guide you through changes and can help explain what they mean for you.