TAX TALK In our articles we will frequently use tax-specific phrases that while second nature to us, may be confusing to many of our readers. To clear up some of that confusion we have provided some definitions for the most common phrases below. Adjusted Gross Income Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is defined as gross income minus adjustments to income. Gross income includes your wages, dividends, capital gains, business income, retirement distributions as well as other income. Adjustments to Income include such items as Educator expenses, Student loan interest, Alimony payments or contributions to a retirement account. Many deductions and credits on your tax return are determined by your AGI. Tax Credits vs Tax Deductions There are two ways your tax burden can be reduced: Tax Credits which directly reduce your tax bill, and tax deductions which indirectly reduce your tax bill by lowering the amount of your taxable income. Let’s say you have taxable income of $10,000 which is taxed at 25%, your tax bill on that income is $2,500. If you receive a tax deduction of $1,000 it will bring your taxable income down to $9,000, reducing your tax bill to $2,250 and saving you $250. IF instead you have a tax credit of $1,000 it will directly reduce your $2,500 tax bill down to $1,500, saving you the full $1,000. Filing Status. Your filing status determines the deductions and credits you qualify for and how much tax you pay on your income. Depending on your situation, you may qualify for more than one filing status, in which case you can choose the one more beneficial to you. These are the five filing statuses: Single. This is the normal filing status for taxpayers who are not married or who are legally separated Married Filing Jointly . Taxpayers who are married can file a joint tax return, reporting all of their income and expenses together Married Filing Separately. Taxpayers who are married can instead choose to file separate tax returns, each reporting their own income and expenses. It is generally better to file a joint return to keep taxes low, but in rare circumstances it can be more beneficial to file separate. Head of Household. Taxpayers who are unmarried and provide more than half the cost of maintaining a home for themselves and at least one other qualifying person can file head of household. This filing status provides larger deductions and lower tax rates than filing single making it the best option for taxpayers who qualify. Qualifying Widow(er) with Dependent Child. Taxpayers whose spouse died within the last 2 years can choose this filing status if they have a dependent child. This status allows them to claim the same deductions and tax rates as if they were filing a joint tax return. Your filing status for any given year is determined by your marital status on the last day of the year. A couple who get married December 31st can file a joint return for that year even though they were unmarried for the majority of the year. This rule does not apply in the death of a spouse. When a spouse dies the surviving spouse can file a joint tax return for the year of death. Itemized Deductions vs Standard Deduction There are two ways you can take deductions on your tax return: you can itemize deductions or use the standard deduction. The standard deduction is a set amount and is based on your filing status. If you itemize your deductions you will take the actual amount you spent on allowable deductions which include: Mortgage interest paid on your personal residence State income taxes paid Real estate taxes paid on your personal residence Medical expenses paid including out-of-pocket premiums paid Charitable donations Each of these deductions is subject to various limitations. Since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, most taxpayers will benefit more from taking the standard deduction than from itemizing their deductions.

SIX MYTHS About Health Savings Accounts If you qualify for one, a Health Savings Account is an incredibly compelling way to pay for your future medical costs. Not only does it allow you to bypass the 7.5% threshold for deducting your medical expenses, it also provides for tax-free growth when you use the proceeds for medical expenses. With significant medical expenses in retirement all but guaranteed, a Health Savings Account is a great tool to save for retirement. As compelling as HSAs are, there are a number of misconceptions about how they work and how you can use the funds held in them. Our goal today is to dispel some of the common myths that surround Health Savings Accounts. 1. You need to use HSA money before the end of the year HSAs are frequently mixed up with flexible spending accounts, which require you to use the funds in the account before the end of the year or lose them. With an HSA the money in the account is yours to keep until you need it. 2. You can’t use your HSA after enrolling in Medicare While you cannot continue to contribute money to your HSA after enrolling in Medicare, you can continue to use the funds that are already in the account to pay for your medical expenses. In fact, once you turn 65 you can also use your HSA funds to pay your Part B and Part D Medicare premiums. If your Medicare premiums are paid directly out of your Social Security benefits you can withdraw the same amount from your HSA to reimburse yourself. 3. You can only open an HSA if your employer offers them. As long as you meet the eligibility requirements, you can open an HSA and start contributing on your own. Many banks and other financial institutions offer Health Savings Accounts. However, if your employer does offer an HSA you are likely better off setting one up through them since many employers make direct contributions to employee’s HSA and will likely also cover the administrative fees of the account. 4. You need to withdraw funds in the same year you pay your medical expenses. Many HSA providers will give you a debit card that you can use to pay your medical expenses directly out of your HSA. However, you can also pay your medical bills out of pocket and then withdraw funds from the account to reimburse yourself. There is no time-frame in which the reimbursement needs to be made. As long as a medical expense is incurred after you set up your HSA, you can wait five, ten or even fifty years to reimburse yourself out of the account. However, the longer you wait the more difficult it may be to prove that the expenses were not already reimbursed in a previous year if the IRS chooses to question the reimbursement so it is best not to wait too long to reimburse yourself. 5. You can only use HSA funds for family members covered under your insurance plan The amount of money that you can contribute to your HSA is dependent on whether your health plan covers your family or just yourself. You can contribute up to $3,500 annually if you have a single plan or $7,000 if you have a family plan. However, even if your health plan only covers yourself and your other family members are on a separate plan, you can still use your HSA funds to cover any medical expenses for your spouse or dependents. 6. You don’t need one if you are healthy. Even if you don’t expect to have significant medical expenses anytime in the near future, you are very likely to have large medical expenses later in life. When viewed as a retirement planning tool rather than an emergency medical fund, the HSA beats both traditional and Roth retirement accounts by allowing for pre-tax contributions and tax-free distributions when used for qualified medical expenses. Summary The Health Savings Account is a powerful tool to prepare for any unexpected medical costs while also saving for retirement. If your healthcare plan qualifies as a High Deductible plan you should strongly consider the benefits offered by an HSA and if you are choosing a new healthcare plan you should look at plans that will qualify for a Health Savings Account. Failing to order your affairs to minimize your tax burden could cost you significant money - so don't wait to take action. If you have additional questions or need some planning help, please reach out to us.

TO BE AWARE OF UNDER THE 2018 TAX REFORM At the end of last year President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law, signaling the largest tax reform in over three decades. We have received a lot of questions recently on how this law will affect our clients. With the tax season now behind us it is time to address how these changes will impact you in 2018. There are many aspects to this law and there is no "one size fits all" explanation for how it will impact our clients. Some of our clients will win and some of them will lose under the new law. With that in mind we have outlined the five changes that we believe are most relevant to you. Personal exemptions historically represented a $4,000 reduction in taxable income for each dependent listed on the tax return. Under the new law these exemptions have been eliminated. However, to help mitigate the loss of these exemptions, the law also made changes to the child tax credit and has added a new credit for non-child dependents. Starting in 2018 the Child Tax Credit has been doubled to $2,000 per child, $1,400 of which is refundable. The phaseout threshold for the Child Tax Credit has also been drastically increased to $200,000 for single filers and $400,000 for joint filers. This means that most taxpayers who were previously prevented from claiming the full Child Tax Credit will now be able to claim the entire credit. Additionally, the law has introduced a new $500 credit for any dependents who are over the age of 17, allowing parents to continue to receive a tax benefit for children in college or other adults residing in their home. SUMMARY There are many moving parts in the new tax law, with a lot of them working to balance one another out. Some of our clients will see a decrease in their tax bill while others will see it increase. Overall, we do not expect any of our clients to see drastic changes, good or bad, with the new code. We expect the majority of our clients to see an increase or decrease in their tax bill of less than $1,000. If you would like to know how the tax reform will directly impact you, please call our office. Read more articles Share Tax Brackets The number of brackets remains at seven. And the percentage charged at each of these brackets has been reduced, with the notable exception of the lowest bracket of 10% which remains unchanged. The majority of our clients who were previously in the 15% or 25% tax bracket will now find themselves in the 12% or 22% bracket respectively. You may have already noticed the impact of these new brackets when your employer adjusted your withholdings earlier in the year, increasing your take home pay. UNREIMBURSED EMPLOYEE EXPENSES The change that could have the greatest impact on our public servant clients is the elimination of the deduction for unreimbursed employee expenses. As the law currently stands, employees will no longer be able to deduct their union dues, work uniforms, tools, or any other expenses related to their employment. The only exception to this is the special $250 allowance for teacher's expenses which remains unaffected. There is currently a bill in congress which seeks to reinstate the deduction for unreimbursed expenses. The "Tax Fairness for Workers Act" would not only bring back the itemized deduction for employee expenses but would go a step further and allow for specific deductions to be taken above-the-line, meaning they would not be subject to many of the limitations that currently restrict their use. It remains to be seen how far this bill will go but we strongly recommend that you keep track of your job expenses until a decision is reached. If the bill passes, this will cause job related expenses to have a greater impact on your tax return. ITEMIZED DEDUCTIONS AND THE STANDARD DEDUCTION One of the most promoted aspects of the new tax law is the nearly doubling of the standard deduction to $12,000 for single, $18,000 for head of household, and $24,000 for joint filers. While the standard deduction amounts are receiving significant increases, many of the allowed itemized deductions are either being handicapped or removed entirely: The deductions for state and local income taxes as well as property taxes are capped at a combined total of $10,000. This means that homeowners in high income-tax states are likely to lose a portion of this former deduction. The deduction for home mortgage interest remains but is limited to mortgages that do not exceed $750,00, down from the previous threshold of $1,000,000. All miscellaneous itemized deductions (including tax preparation fees, casualty losses and all unreimbursed employee expenses) have been eliminated entirely. The increased standard deduction amounts combined with the additional restrictions on itemized deductions increases the chances of the standard deduction being more beneficial than itemizing deductions in 2018. 1 ABOVE THE LINE DEDUCTIONS Above-the-line deductions are more beneficial than itemized deductions as they have far fewer restrictions. The new tax law retains many of these deductions including educator expenses, student loan interest, and contributions to Health Savings Accounts. Two deductions that have been changed are expenses for a job-related move, and alimony payments. Starting in 2018 expenses for a job-related move will only be deductible by active members of the military. Starting in 2019 alimony payments will no longer be deductible. However, this will only apply to divorce agreements settled after the start of 2019. This means that alimony payments from divorce agreements that were already in place prior to 2019 will continue to be deductible. FIVE CHANGES 3 PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS AND THE CHILD TAX CREDIT 2 4 5 At Monotelo, we exist to make a difference with meaningful and actionable financial solutions that positively impact our client's lives. If you have questions about what steps you can be taking to prepare for your retirement years, call us at 800-961-0298

TAX TIPS For Home Sellers As the housing recovery begins to pick up steam, some home sellers will have gains on the sale of their homes for the first time in nearly a decade. The good news is that the tax code recognizes the importance of home ownership by providing certain tax breaks when you sell your home. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW when selling your home is that your sale qualifies for an exclusion of $250,000 in gains ($500,000 if married filing jointly) if you owned the home and used it as your main home during 2 of the last 5 years before the sale and you have not claimed any exclusion for the sale of another home within the last 2 years. The 24 months of residence can fall anywhere within the 5-year period. It doesn't even have to be a single block of time. All you need is a total of 24 months (730 days) of residence during the 5-year period. POINTS/HOME IMPROVEMENTS/ MOVING & PROPERTY TAX DEDUCTIONS IF YOU HAVE TO SELL YOUR HOUSE because you're relocating for work, you might be able to deduct some of your moving expenses. Deductions could include transportation costs, travel to the new place, storage costs and lodging costs. YOU CAN DEDUCT YOUR PROPERTY TAXES for the portion of the year that you owned the home - up to the date of the sale. SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO IMPROVE YOUR HOME to get it sold. If you make home improvements that help sell your home, and if they are made within 90 days of the closing, they may be considered selling costs, which could be deductible. IF YOU PAID POINTS TO LOWER YOUR INTEREST RATE when you refinanced your home, you might qualify for an additional deduction. Because you can deduct a proportional share of the points until the loan is paid, when you pay off the loan through a sale,you can deduct the remaining value of those points. ADDITIONAL TIPS IF YOU DON'T QUALIFY for the Section 121 exclusion (left), you will owe taxes on any profit, so make sure you deduct all your selling costs from your gain. Some of the selling costs could include: Your real estate agent's commission Legal fees Title insurance Inspection fees Advertising costs Escrow fees Legal fees SELLING PRICE - SELLING EXPENSES CALCULATION AMOUNT REALIZED - ADJUSTED BASIS GAIN OR LOSS REPORTING REQUIREMENTS YOU NEED TO REPORT THE GAIN IF: 1 2 3 You have a taxable gain on your home sale and do not qualify to exclude the sale. You received Form 1099-S. If so, you must report the sale even if you have no taxable gain to report. You wish to report your gain as a taxable gain because you plan to sell another property that qualifies as a home within the next two years, and that property is likely to have a larger gain. Save as PDF Read more articles Share Failing to order your affairs to minimize your tax burden could cost you significant money - so don't wait to take action. If you have additional questions or need some planning help, please reach out to us.

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SMALL BUSINESS TIPS Deduct Your Medical Expenses by Hiring Your Spouse Deducting 100% of Your Business Meals New Provisions for the Paycheck Protection Program Pandemic Provision for Tax-Free Payments to Your Employees How to Get Forgiveness of Your Paycheck Protection Loan Tax Impact of the Paycheck Protection Program Economic Relief From The Small Business Administration Deducting Your Business Travel Five Year-End Business Deductions Avoid Taxes On Your Reimbursed Employee Expenses How Will Your Real-Estate Sale Be Taxed? Putting Your Self-Employment Income Away for Retirement Deducting the Business Use of Your Vehicle How to Deduct Your Vacation Travel as a Business Expense Staying Out of the "Danger Zone" of the New Small-Business Deduction New Deduction for Pass-Through Businesses Unlocking the Missed Deductions of a Home Office Avoid the Headaches and Penalties Associated with 1099 Reporting Providing Healthcare Coverage to Your Employees What is the Best Business Structure for You? Are You Protecting Yourself From Your Corporate Income?

WHITE PAPER INTRODUCTION Realtor Sam, while a real person, is not the actual name of this real estate agent. We have changed the name to protect the innocent! The Realtor Sam case is a case we examined in 2015, which had similarities to cases that had come across our desk in the past. Realtor Sam had been in the real estate business for nearly twenty years. He was not only selling real estate, he also owned several residential properties that were generating significant cash flow and taxable income. Realtor Sam had incorporated his commission-based business as a C-Corp ten years prior to our interaction with him. Apart from a bad year in 2013, his gross commissions were generally around ninety-five thousand dollars per year and his commission-based business was generating around forty-thousand per year in free cash flow after all his expenses were paid. What made Realtor Sam’s case unique was the fact that his investment properties were generating significantly more income than his commission-based business. THE CHALLENGE By incorporating his commission-based business, Realtor Sam had taken the first step towards a tax-efficient business structure. However, there were additional steps he should have taken when he first set up his business ten years earlier. Because of the way Realtor Sam had structured his compensation from his C-Corporation for his commission-based income, he was regularly generating losses on his corporate tax returns. Worse, because he was set up as a C-Corporation, those losses could not be used to offset the income he was generating from his rental properties. These issues were causing Realtor Sam to significantly overpay on his tax returns every year. THE SOLUTION Fortunately, we were able to put a plan together for Realtor Sam to help get him back on track. Our first goal was to take advantage of the accumulated losses on his corporate tax return. To accomplish this, we made some adjustments to how he was compensating himself through the business. Our second goal was to help him efficiently pull profits out of his business by taking advantage of some provisions in the Internal Revenue Code that were available to him as an officer of a corporation. These changes reduced his tax bill in the first year by $9,000 and by $5,500 in each of the subsequent years. These results were beyond what we had expected, and beyond what we generally see for someone with Realtor Sam’s taxable income, but they do demonstrate what can happen when we apply a deep understanding of the tax code as it relates to real-estate centered businesses. At Monotelo our focus is more than tax preparation, it is to make a difference with actionable and meaningful financial solutions that positively impact our clients’ lives. Save as PDF More White Papers WLW: Win One, Lose One, Win One CWS: Could-A-Would-A-Should-A SOO: Starting Over, And Over

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At Monotelo Advisors we work hard to free up cash flow by helping you minimize your federal tax liability, giving you more money to reinvest into your future. TAX EXPERTISE Monotelo believes there is a better way to help you secure your financial future. It starts by improving your cash flow, then focusing on the budget and retirement savings to help you take charge of a future filled with peace and financial security. Our mission is to make a difference with meaningful and actionable financial solutions that positively impact our client's lives. We do this by integrating the tax component into all our discussions - freeing up cash flow that allows our clients to live the lives they want to live. SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS If you are a small-business owner, there is a high probability that you are paying more tax than what is required. And the key to lowering your tax bill is not in finding a competent CPA to file your tax returns, it's in finding an expert with a disciplined process to help you plan your future. LEARN MORE PRIVATE CLIENTS With the opportunities and challenges of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Monotelo's unique blend of expertise in tax law, retirement planning and wealth management can be a critical factor in helping you reach your short and long-term goals. LEARN MORE RETIREMENT PLANNING The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has made proper tax planning more critical than ever when it comes to preparing for retirement. Monotelo's unique blend of expertise and wealth management can help you reach your retirement goals. LEARN MORE TAX EXPERTISE Click here to access the tools and articles designed to help you manage your taxes and your finances while giving you confidence to take the steps needed to prepare for a future filled with peace, hope and financial security. LEARN MORE

Spend some time reviewing your retirement accounts before 2019. 1 2 If you hold shares of a mutual fund in a taxable investment account (taxable meaning not held in an IRA or other “deferred” investment account), then you will receive distributions from this fund in the form of interest, dividends or capital gains. These distributions are likely automatically reinvested into more shares immediately after they are received. While this can help you keep your money productive, it can also create a number of tax consequences when these funds are not held in tax-deferred accounts. Save as PDF TAX CONSEQUENCES of Reinvesting Your Mutual Fund Taxes on Reinvested Distributions When these funds are held in a taxable account, you will pay taxes on the interest, dividends or capital gains in the year that you receive them, even if they are immediately reinvested back into the fund. This can come as a surprise to some taxpayers who think they shouldn’t owe any taxes since they never pulled the money out of the account. Disallowed Losses When a fund that you hold shares in has declined significantly in value you may sell those shares to prevent any further decline in value as well as to realize a tax deduction for your losses. However, if the proceeds are automatically reinvested back into the fund you may cost yourself the tax deduction for those losses due to the IRS “wash sale” rule. This rule states that when you purchase “substantially identical” shares within 30 days before or after the loss sale, your deduction will be reduced by the amount of purchases made within the window. If you plan to sell shares of a fund to realize a loss, make sure the proceeds are not automatically reinvested in a similar fund within 30 days. Records Nightmare from Long-Held Stock When you sell shares of a fund you need to report the original purchase price in order to reduce the taxable gain on the sale. If you only held the shares for a few months or a few years, then this likely is not a cause for concern. The fund company should know exactly when you purchased the shares and how much you paid. However, if you purchased the shares many years or even decades ago, you could find yourself making countless phone calls and digging through old records to try and determine your basis in the shares. Worse, if you cannot find your original purchase price the IRS will set it at zero and you will owe capital gains taxes on the entire sale. Reinvesting at the Top You are likely to receive more distributions from a mutual fund after the fund has a profitable year. If your distributions are set to be reinvested automatically this can lead to you routinely buying more shares at their highest price and fewer at their lowest price. In these situations, it may be more advantageous to manually invest the distributions in other funds that are not at their peak price. Summary Automatically reinvesting your earnings from mutual funds is an efficient way to keep your money active in the market without requiring your constant supervision. However, it can also create some unforeseen tax consequences at the end of the year if those funds are not held in a tax deferred account such as an IRA. Being aware of these potential tax consequences and monitoring your investment account throughout the year can help you avoid surprises and headaches when you file your taxes at the end of the year. Read more articles Share Failing to order your affairs to minimize your tax burden could cost you significant money - so don't wait to take action. If you have additional questions or need some planning help, please reach out to us.

AVOID THE HIDDEN TRAPS of Retirement Plan Loans When you are looking for a loan, one option you can consider is to take out a loan from your retirement plan. These loans do not require a credit check, and they generally have very favorable interest rates. For employees who are having trouble securing a loan, borrowing from their retirement plan can be an easy way to secure a loan. However, these plans can be dangerous if not treated with the proper caution. There are complex rules that go along with these loans, and defaulting on the loan results in the remaining balance being considered a taxable distribution from the plan and can be subject to the 10% early distribution penalty. Requirements for retirement plan loans There are 3 requirements that must be met in order to receive a loan from your retirement plan: The entire loan balance must be repaid within five years, except in cases where the loan is used to purchase a principal residence. 1 The loan must be repaid using equal payments on at least a quarterly basis, meaning you cannot make small payments for 4 years and one large payment in the last year. 2 The loan balance cannot exceed $50,000, or one-half of the account balance, whichever amount is lower. 3 Defaulting on the loan results in the remaining balance being considered a taxable distribution, subject to a 10% penalty Repayment of loans In order to avoid the loan being treated as a distribution, you must make all of the payments on time. Plans will generally offer a grace period on missed payments up to the end of the next quarter after the payment was due. However, some plans offer smaller grace periods or no grace period at all. What happens when you leave your job while you are still repaying a retirement plan loan? Most companies don't want to deal with collecting payments from individuals who no longer work for them. When you leave your job you will be given 60 days to pay off the balance of the loan. Any amount not paid off in the 60 days will be deducted from the balance of the plan and will be considered a distribution, which will be taxable and subject to the 10% penalty for early distribution. Key Takeaway Taking out a loan from your retirement plan can be an easy way to secure a loan. There are no credit checks or high interest rates. However, the tax penalty can be painful if you are unable to make the required payments. At Monotelo, we exist to make a difference with meaningful and actionable financial solutions that positively impact our client's lives. If you have questions about what steps you can be taking to prepare for your retirement years, call us at 800-961-0298

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