End of the Year Tax Tips for 2013

The end of the year provides an optimal time to use a tax savings approach. This strategy involves deferring expected income, offsetting capital gains while maximizing tax benefits, donating shares and pay non-eligible dividends.

2013 Tax Strategies for the Year-End

Are you looking for tax tips for the end of the year? Hi, my name is Allan Madan, your trusted accountant. In this article I’m going to give you the best end of year tax tips so you can end 2013 on a good note. Go through the four simple measures given here and benefit.

Defer Expected Income:

The first end of year tax tips is to defer any expected income. For example, if you know that you are going to receive a bonus at the end of the year ask your employer to wait until January 1st to give it to you. This way, your 2013 taxable income will be reduced by the size of the bonus, and as a result you’ll end up paying a lot less in taxes for the year.

Offset Capital Gains and Maximize Tax Benefits:

The second year-end tax savings approach is to offset capital gains by selling some of depreciated stocks. Deduct your capital losses from your capital gains and reduce the amount of taxes you have to pay. This sales transaction must happen before the end of the year. If you don’t have any capital gains but your spouse does, there are ways to transfer your capital losses to your spouse.

Donate Shares:

Another end of the year tax saving strategy revolves around making donations because donations can, once again, help you pay less in taxes. Instead of donating money, donate publicly listed securities to registered charities. This way you can avoid paying capital gains taxes and also receive a donations tax receipt.

Pay Non-Eligible Dividends:

With the New Year celebrations comes a new tax law. The tax rates on non-taxable dividends will be increasing in 2014. As a business owner, pay yourself a dividend from your corporation before you start celebrating the end of 2013.

Thank you for reading and I hope you found this article about end of year tax tips for 2013 useful. For more related information, please consult other sections of our website.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALLAN MADAN

CPA, CA

Allan Madan is a CPA, CA and the founder of Madan Chartered Accountant Professional Corporation. Allan provides valuable tax planning, accounting and income tax preparation services in the Greater Toronto Area.

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