Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2021!

It’s late in coming but I wanted to wish all my clients and friends the happiest holiday season and best wishes for 2021! Filing season is just around the corner, and the difficult year of 2020 will be over even sooner. Soon I’ll be sending out my annual letter and gearing up for the filing season. A few things to remember before you toast your champagne to the end of 2020 -

• If you have any last-minute charitable donations to make so you can have them as deductions for 2020, now is the time to make them. Also, just for 2020, if you are someone who normally takes the standard deduction and does not itemize their deductions - usually people who don’t have a mortgage or pay mortgage interest and property taxes that amount to less than the standard deduction - you can deduct up to $ 300 in charitable donations in addition to the standard deduction. If you are single without a mortgage and likely will be taking the standard deduction of $ 12,400 in 2020, you will be able to deduct up to $ 300 in charitable donations on top of that.

• If you did not turn 70 1/2 before January 1, 2020, and you have 401k or IRA accounts that you would normally be required to start taking distributions from for your retirement, you are now not required to do so until age 72. If you need the money and are age 59 1/2 and older, by all means take the distribution, as you are permitted to do so without penalty starting six months after your 59th birthday. But if you would rather the money continue to grow as well as continue to defer taxes on income or growth in your traditional IRA or 401k, you may continue to do so until age 72. With Roth IRA’s or Roth 401k’s, there is no set date with you are required to take distributions.

Have a safe and pleasant New Year’s! I would imagine there won’t be too many big parties this year, but nothing to stop you from enjoying the champagne.