Author: Leon Clinton

2024 has been a great year for investors in cryptocurrency, with Bitcoin reaching all-time highs.

With high profits, however, can come high taxes. Fortunately, there are several strategies you can employ before year-end to reduce your 2024 crypto taxes.

If you invested only in Bitcoin, you may not have any crypto losses. 

But you could have losses if you invested in other forms of crypto. If so, you should consider selling your losers before the end of the year. You may fully deduct your losses from any capital gains you realize during the year, such as gains from selling other crypto or stocks at a profit. 

If your losses exceed your capital gains for the year, you can use your remaining losses to offset up to $3,000 in personal income. You can carry any unused losses over to future years to offset future gains or income.

Donating appreciated crypto to charity is a great tax strategy if you’re charitably inclined. You’ll not only help a charity, but you’ll also get two terrific tax benefits:

• You avoid long-term capital gains taxes on your appreciated crypto.
• You can get a charitable contribution deduction equal to the appreciated value.

To obtain the benefits described above, you must (a) itemize your deductions on Schedule A, and (b) have held the crypto for more than a year.

You should also consider giving crypto to a child, a grandchild, or another loved one. For 2024, you may gift up to $18,000 to an unlimited number of people without triggering any tax or reporting obligation for you or the recipients. If you’re married, you and your spouse may gift $36,000.

Another strategy is establishing a self-directed IRA or a self-directed solo 401(k) to purchase crypto. You can use a self-directed regular or Roth IRA or 401(k).

• By Leon Clinton
• December 16, 2024

All small-business owners with one to 49 employees should have a medical plan for their business.

Sure, it’s true that with 49 or fewer employees, the tax law does not require you to have a plan, but you should.

When you have 49 or fewer employees, most medical plan tax rules are straightforward.

Here are six opportunities for you to consider:

1. Make sure to file amended returns for your 2021 sick and family leave payments to claim up to $32,220 in federal tax credits for yourself. You can also claim an equal amount for your employees. It’s likely that you made payments that qualify for at least some of the credits.
2. If you have a Section 105 plan in place and have not been reimbursing expenses monthly, do a reimbursement now to get your 2024 deductions, and then put yourself on a monthly reimbursement schedule in 2025.
3. If you want to implement a qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangement (QSEHRA), but you have not yet done so, make sure to get that done correctly now. You are late, so you could suffer that $50-per-employee penalty should your lateness be found out. 
4. But if you are thinking of the QSEHRA and want to help your employees with more money and flexibility, consider the individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) instead. It’s got more advantages.
5. If you operate your business as an S corporation and want an above-the-line tax deduction for the cost of your health insurance, you need the S corporation to (a) pay for or reimburse you for the health insurance, and (b) put that insurance cost on your W-2. Make sure the reimbursement happens before December 31 and you have the reimbursement set up to show on the W-2.
6. Claim the tax credit for the group health insurance you give your employees. If you recently provided your employees with group health insurance, see whether your pay structure and number of employees put you in a position to claim a 50 percent tax credit for some or all of the monies you paid for health insurance in 2024 and possibly in prior years.

If you need more insights into the opportunities described above, please call me on my direct line at 408-778-9651.

• By Leon Clinton
• December 3, 2024

The clock continues to tick. Your retirement is one year closer.

You have time before December 31 to take steps that will help you fund the retirement you desire. Here are five things to consider.

1. Establish Your 2024 Retirement Plan

First, a question: Do you have your (or your corporation’s) retirement plan in place?  

If not, and if you have some cash you can put into a retirement plan, get busy and put that retirement plan in place so you can obtain a tax deduction for 2024.

For most defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans, you (the owner-employee) are both an employee and the employer, whether you operate as a corporation or as a sole proprietorship. And that’s good because you can make both the employer and the employee contributions, allowing you to put a good chunk of money away.

2. Claim the New, Improved Retirement Plan Start-Up Tax Credit of up to $15,000

By establishing a new qualified retirement plan (such as a profit-sharing plan, 401(k) plan, or defined benefit pension plan), a SIMPLE IRA plan, or a SEP, you can qualify for a non-refundable tax credit that’s the greater of

• $500 or
• the lesser of (a) $250 multiplied by the number of your non-highly compensated employees who are eligible to participate in the plan, or (b) $5,000.

The law bases your credit on your “qualified start-up costs.” For the retirement start-up credit, your qualified start-up costs are the ordinary and necessary expenses you pay or incur in connection with

• the establishment or administration of the plan, and
• the retirement-related education of employees for such plan.

3. Claim the New Small Employer Pension Contribution Tax Credit (up to $3,500 per Employee)

The SECURE 2.0 Act, passed in 2022, added an additional credit for your employer retirement plan contributions on behalf of your employees. The new up-to-$1,000-per-employee tax credit begins with the plan start date. 

The new credit is effective for 2023 and later.

Exception. The new $1,000 credit is not available for employer contributions to a defined benefit plan or elective deferrals under Section 402(g)(3).

In the year you establish the plan, you qualify for a credit of up to 100 percent of your employer contribution, limited to $1,000 per employee. In subsequent years, the dollar limit remains at $1,000 per employee, but your credit is limited as follows:

• 100 percent in year 2
• 75 percent in year 3
• 50 percent in year 4
• 25 percent in year 5
• No credit in year 6 and beyond

Example. You establish your retirement plan this year and contribute $1,000 to each of your 30 employees’ retirement. You earn a tax credit of $30,000 ($1,000 x 30).

If you have between 51 and 100 employees, you reduce your credit by 2 percent per employee in this range. With more than 100 employees, your credit is zero.

Also, you earn no credit for employees with wages in excess of $100,000 adjusted for inflation in increments of $5,000 in years after 2023.

4. Claim the New Automatic-Enrollment $500 Tax Credit for Each of Three Years ($1,500 Total)

The first SECURE Act added a non-refundable credit of $500 per year for up to three years, beginning with the first taxable year (2020 or later) in which you, as an eligible small employer, include an automatic contribution arrangement in a 401(k) or SIMPLE plan.

The new $500 auto-contribution tax credit is in addition to the start-up credit and can apply to both newly created and existing retirement plans. Further, you don’t have to spend any money to trigger the credit. You just need to add the auto-enrollment feature (which does contain a provision that allows employees to opt out).

5. Convert to a Roth IRA

Consider converting your 401(k) or traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

You first need to answer this question: How much tax will you have to pay to convert your existing plan to a Roth IRA? With this answer, you now know how much cash you need on hand to pay the extra taxes.

Here are four reasons you should consider converting your retirement plan to a Roth IRA:

1. You can withdraw the monies you put into your Roth IRA (the contributions) at any time, both tax-free and penalty-free, because you invested previously taxed money into the Roth account.
2. You can withdraw the money you converted from the traditional plan to the Roth IRA at any time, tax-free. (But if you make that conversion withdrawal within five years of the conversion, you pay a 10 percent penalty. Each conversion has its own five-year period.)
3. When you have your money in a Roth IRA, you pay no tax on qualified withdrawals (earnings), which are distributions taken after age 59 1/2, provided you’ve had your Roth IRA open for at least five years.
4. Unlike with the traditional IRA, you don’t have to receive required minimum distributions from a Roth IRA when you reach age 73—or to put this another way, you can keep your Roth IRA intact and earning money until you die. (After your death, the Roth IRA can continue to earn money, but someone else will be making the investment decisions and enjoying your cash.)

If you would like my help with any of the above, please call me on my direct line at 408-778-9651.

• By Leon Clinton
• November 26, 2024