Posts Tagged taxes
How To Escape Capital Gains Tax
Taxpayers are usually terrified of the word “capital gains.” You can define capital gains as the profits you gain from the sale of an asset. As per capital gains tax law, you have to pay taxes on the profits you make when you sell an asset. You can make a capital gain on assets such as land, stocks, or bonds. On the other hand, if you made a loss on a piece of property, it is considered to be a capital loss for which you get a tax deduction.
A clause in the capital gains tax law permits you to avoid paying capital gains tax even if you make a huge profit while selling an asset. Real estate in one area in which you can dodge capital gains tax. Real estate is known to be a very profitable venture; its price never goes down as long as you own it. The good news is that IRS has enabled tax payers, who invest in real estate, to avoid paying taxes on the profits they make on it.
The IRS & Madoff Investors: “Theft Losses” (Ponzi Schemes)
On 3/17/09, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman told the Senate Finance Committee:
“. . . Thousands of Taxpayers have been victimized by dozens of fraudulent investment schemes. These too-good-to-be-true investment uses have often taken the form of so-called “Ponzi schemes” (i.e., the fraud perpetrator promises investments returns, some or all of which are fictitious) . . . The Madoff scandal has affected a very large and diverse pool of Investors, some of whom are reported to have lost most of their life savings . . . To help provide clarity and to assist Taxpayers the IRS is today issuing guidance articulating the tax rules that apply and providing “safe harbor” procedures for Taxpayers who sustained losses in certain investment arrangements discovered to be criminally fraudulent.”
In response, the IRS issued Rev. Rul. 2009-9, Rev. Proc. 2009-20 which allows Investors, defrauded by “Ponzi schemes” (including Madoff’s “Ponzi scheme”) to claim an IRC §165(e) theft loss deduction (i.e., ordinary loss deductions not a capital loss deduction for their “qualified investment” (Rev. Proc. 2009-20, Sec 2.06).
End of Year Tax Advice- How to Use Major Market Losses to Lower
As you continue to follow the basic rules of investing by following a disciplined investment process and staying invested, you may find yourself very dizzy while riding the rollercoaster of life; life affected by Federal Reserve decisions made for your own good, CEO bonuses and golden parachutes, and corruption on Wall Street. You may be feeling disbelief as you scratch your head wondering “what happened” and “how did I not see this turmoil in the financial markets coming”. What is a person to do?