保留慈善捐赠的税收抵免

根据《BET9九卅娱乐会员登录》(TCJA), 许多纳税人担心失去慈善捐款的税收优惠. 根据这项法律，有税收激励进行慈善捐赠的家庭越来越少. 然而，通过规划，个人和企业仍然可以从捐赠中受益.

该法案将标准扣除额提高到12美元,个人申报人的费用为000美元，另加24美元,为已婚家庭共同申请. 这一增长, 再加上其他扣除项目的取消, 意味着许多家庭将不再逐项记账, 基本上失去了他们慈善捐赠的好处.

然而, you can still leverage contributions if you bundle several years of giving into one tax year and surpass the standard deduction limit. 这一年你的捐赠会增加，下一年就会减少. This strategy works well for households already close to the new standard deduction limit.

• January-December bundles: One approach is to donate at the beginning of January and the end of December. 这对你和慈善机构来说都更接近于正常的现金流. 只要确保慈善机构在你的收据上记录了正确的日期.
• Donor advised funds: Another approach is to bundle your giving in a donor advised fund (DAF), 可通过经纪公司和社区基金会获得. 有了这些资金, 捐赠的那一年你会得到税收优惠, 但你有无限的时间来决定如何分配这些礼物. This strategy is scalable, meaning you can put several years of donations into a DAF.
• 增值股票:根据新的法律, 捐赠增值股票仍可获得税收减免, 共同基金和房地产. 通过直接制作礼物, 而不是把资产卖掉，然后送人礼物, 你消除了税收后果.
• Charitable advertising: Businesses still can gain tax benefit from charitable sponsorships or advertising through a charity. You could, for example, sponsor a golf outing or advertise in the charity’s newsletter. If certain conditions are met, such exchanges are deductible as business advertising. 你的首选慈善福利，你保留存款.
  请注意，你不能夸大赞助或广告的价值. 促销活动可以作为广告费扣除, there must be a reasonable expectation that you will receive a proportionate financial return. 如果有一个合理的理由，你的公司会从赞助中受益, 你也许可以要求扣除.

Talk to an advisor to build your giving strategy and ensure you are meeting any requirements under the new law.

搬到别的州? 检查你的遗产计划

当你搬到一个新州时，有很多事情要做. 在喧嚣中，有些事情可能会被忽视，
包括一些重要的东西，比如遗产规划文件. 

每个州的物权法都不一样，所以 如果你搬家了，最好还是重新审视一下这些文件. 有你的意志, 信任, power of attorney and advance directive reviewed by an advisor familiar with the laws of your new home.

你已经为这些文件做了很多艰苦的工作. You’ve done the heavy lifting of deciding your wishes and how they should be executed. 因此，为您的新状态更新它们不会花费太多精力.

以下是搬家可能会影响到的一些关键因素:

• Executors: In some states, the court can reject an executor solely based on residency. 其他州则对州外遗嘱执行人施加了额外的限制. 出于实际原因，指定一个住在附近的遗嘱执行人是个好主意. 向顾问咨询一下你所在州的规定.
• Wills: Moving between a community property state and a common law state can impact what you and your spouse own. In community property states, spouses own equal halves of anything acquired during the marriage. 在普通法州，夫妻双方拥有自己名下的财产.  这种转变会影响资产分配，所以重新审视你的遗嘱.
• 授权书:在某些州, 你可以在一份表格上确定预先指示并指定你的授权书. 其他要求单独的文件，语言因州而异. 
• Advance directives: Medical providers may  be reluctant to honor an out-of-state document, 如果你住在当地，你的家人会过得更轻松.

当然, 你需要确保你的金融机构, insurance companies and other account custodians have current contact information for you and your beneficiaries. 如果你的遗产规划文件是几年前的, 即使你待在原地，复习一下也是个好主意.

信贷解冻现在是免费的

截至9月. 21, a new law requires that the three major credit reporting bureaus allow you to place or lift a security freeze on your credit files without charge.

当你的文件被冻结时，贷方无法检查你的信用. 这意味着身份窃贼不能以你的名义申请新的信贷或借款.

The law change comes roughly a year after an Equifax breach that may have affected nearly 150 million  consumers. 许多安全专家建议消费者冻结他们的信贷.

At that time, a freeze was free, but an “unfreeze” cost between $3 to $10 in most states. 现在, you will be able to freeze and unfreeze your report and credit bureaus will be required to fulfill requests within one business day (three days if you mail your request).

Placing a freeze is easy, although you will have to do so separately with each of the three bureaus.

在去年, more than 90 percent of Americans say they’ve taken some action to protect themselves from identity theft, 尽管只有8%的人说他们冻结了他们的信用报告, 根据CompareCards.com调查.

Placing a freeze on your credit report doesn’t prevent you (or criminals) from using your existing credit cards, 但它可以阻止小偷以你的名义开一个新的.

继承房产时要纳税

 当你继承了一套房子然后卖掉它, you pay capital gains tax based on the  value of the home on the date of the owner’s death. 例如, 如果你继承了你爸爸的度假小屋, 它值300美元,当他去世时，他已经死了。, 然后你以325美元的价格卖掉它,000, 你要为这25美元纳税,000年获得.

The value of the house at the time of the owner’s death is called the stepped-up basis. If your parents purchased the cabin decades ago for $100,000, your gain isn’t based on this number. 这是根据业主去世时财产的增值来计算的.

如果你在出售前对房产进行了改善, 你可以从你的资本收益计算中减去这些费用. 如果你以低于房产加价的价格出售, 你最多可以扣除3美元的损失,000元/年, 把更多的钱转到未来几年.

Stepped-up basis applies to all inherited assets, including jewelry, vehicles, stocks and bonds.

祖父母对大学费用的选择

随着大学学费的上涨，一些祖父母也加入了进来. 想要帮忙的祖父母有几个选择, 但很多都有局限性或可能存在的缺陷:

• Cash gifts: If your grandchild won’t qualify for financial aid, a cash gift may be a good option. Under federal law, couples can give up to $30,000元/年 before being subject to gift taxes. 然而, 你的孙子可能有资格获得经济援助, 这样的现金赠与可能会限制他们的资格.

   

• 支付给学校:学费直接支付给学校, 这些款项不属于应税赠与，也没有年度限制. 然而, only payments for tuition are exempt, not payments for room, board, books or other fees. Before making a payment, ask the school if it will impact any school-directed financial aid.
• 529计划:祖父母可以向529大学储蓄计划捐款. 捐款增加递延税, and withdrawals are tax-free at the federal level (and usually at the state level) as long they’re used for qualified education expenses.  Funds in a 529 plan can be transferred between siblings and cousins and there’s no time limit in which the money needs to be used. 但是，请注意，您拥有的任何529计划都可能影响您的医疗补助资格. Assets held in a grandparent’s 529 account won’t impact a student’s financial aid eligibility.
  然而, 一旦祖父母取出钱来支付大学学费, 它将在次年的援助申请中报告. That drives up the student’s Expected 家庭 Contribution (EFC) and reduces federal aid.
  One workaround is not to withdraw the funds until your student’s final year of school. 因为他们明年不会申请资助，你的礼物不会有什么影响.

   

• Coverdell accounts: Grandparents have the option to fund a Coverdell Education Savings Account (ESA). 比如529计划, these funds grow taxdeferred and are tax-free if used to pay for qualified education expenses.
  The upside to Coverdell accounts is that they provide the ability to self-direct investments. +, 这些账户可以用来支付K-12的费用，比如书籍, 设备和辅导, 而不是529个计划, 只能用来支付K-12的学费. You can only contribute $2,000 per beneficiary per year and only until they turn 18. 你的贡献能力也会随着你的收入而逐渐消失.

   

• 从个人退休账户中提款:如果你的年龄在59岁半以上, you can withdraw money from IRAs to pay for a grandchild’s education without paying the 10 percent penalty. 对于一些, this strategy may be better than 529 and Coverdell accounts due to the lack of limits and restrictions.

资助大学可能是一项复杂的努力. 与顾问交谈，帮助你制定战略.