Year-End Tax Optimization

As we approach the end of the year, you may be surprised by how much your assistant can help get your financial house in order.

Here are some recent examples from Athena members:

Maximizing your 401(k) contributions → A solopreneur realized her solo 401(k) contributions were only partially made for the year, as she never had time to contact the plan administrator. Instead, she had her assistant:

• Check her current contribution amount(s) for the tax year
• Verify IRS limits for her age and plan type
• Contact the plan administrator and patch her in so she didn’t wait on hold
• Draft a quick email for her to confirm everything with her financial advisor

Capturing business expenses → A small business owner was concerned he wasn’t comprehensively itemizing his business expenses. He has his assistant take a first pass, and had her:

• Review all his credit card and bank statements and tag expenses (advertising, travel, home, etc); the assistant was able to integrate her knowledge of his travel calendar and business meetings
• Review vendor invoices: Cross-check invoices for large business services (e.g., software, contractors) with payment records to ensure they were captured
• Flag any missing receipts or unclear charges; asked TaxGPT for expense categories as supplemental info to consider

Tax planning → A CMO at a services company had outsized realized gains this year so had her assistant research tax optimization strategies that she later confirmed with her accountant. Her assistant was able to help her implement some, including:

• Set up a Donor Advised Fund (and complete all the paperwork) to identify highly appreciated stock to make donations to her children’s school
• Identify the annual gift tax exclusion of $17,000 per recipient
• Prep donation and gift documentation to hand over to her accountant

By opening up the books to your assistant and having them help with year-end finances, you’ll gain confidence knowing you’ve taken important steps to optimize your finances.