Tax Planning
The goal of tax planning is to arrange your financial affairs so as to minimize your taxes. There are three basic ways to reduce your taxes, and each basic method might have several variations. You can reduce your income, increase your deductions, and take advantage of tax credits.
Individual Tax Preparation of Form 1040 and ALL States
The Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, is the starting form for personal (individual) federal income tax returns filed with the IRS.
Trust Returns/Fiduciary Form 1041
The executor or administrator of a deceased person’s estate or trust is a fiduciary, a person who holds assets in trust for a beneficiary. One of the fiduciary’s major duties is ensuring federal and state taxes and other financial obligations are paid before the estate or trust is passed on to the heirs. Since 1993, the Internal Revenue Service has designated its fiduciary income tax return as IRS Form 1041, U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts.
Tax Exempt Organizations Form 990
Form 990 is an annual reporting return that certain federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the IRS. It provides information on the filing organization’s mission, programs, and finances.
Estate Returns Form 706
A federal estate tax return, or IRS Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, is required to be filed only after specific criteria with regard to an estate are met. Even so, some estates may be required to prepare IRS Form 706 strictly for state estate tax purposes or electing “portability” of the estate tax exemption, while others should consider filing IRS Form 706 even if a return is not required to be filed.
Business Tax Forms 1120, 1120s and 1065
Forms 1120 and 1120s are used to report profits, losses and deductions of C corporations and S corporations, respectfully.
The 1065 is a tax document that is used to report the profits, losses and deductions of a business’ partners. Form 1065 is part of the Schedule K-1 document, and is prepared for each individual partner. The document identifies the percentage share of profit and loss assigned to each partner, both at the beginning of the reporting period and at the end.