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Tags: QuickBooks Bookkeeping, Retirement tax deductions, Sarasota CPA, Tax Planning

Required Minimum Distributions

Are you 72 or older? If so, you must take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your traditional IRA, SEP-IRA, or SIMPLE IRA by the end of the year.

If you turn 72 this year, you can wait until April 1 of next year to take your first Required Minimum Distribution—but you’ll also have to take your second RMD by the end of that year.

Your Required Minimum Distribution is a percentage of the total value of your retirement accounts based on your age and life expectancy. The older you are, the more you must distribute. But here’s the kicker: your Required Minimum Distribution must be based on the value of your retirement accounts as of the end of the prior year—December 31, 2021, in the case of 2022 RMDs. So you may have a high RMD due this year even though the value of your retirement portfolio has declined, perhaps substantially.

If your retirement accounts consist primarily of stocks, bonds, or other securities, you don’t have to sell them at their current depressed levels and distribute the cash to yourself to fulfill your Required Minimum Distribution. There’s another option: do an in-kind distribution.

In-Kind Required Minimum Distribution

With an in-kind Required Minimum Distribution, you transfer stock, bonds, mutual funds, or other securities directly from your IRA to a taxable account, such as a brokerage account. No selling is involved. The amount of your RMD is the fair market value of the stock or other securities at the time of the transfer.

Furthermore, you still have to pay income tax on the distribution at ordinary income rates. To avoid selling any part of the stock or other securities you’ve transferred, you’ll have to come up with the cash to pay the tax from another source, such as a regular bank account.

With an in-kind distribution, not only do you avoid selling stocks in a down market, but the transfer may also reduce the taxes due on any future appreciation when you eventually do sell. This is because when you do an in-kind Required Minimum Distribution, it resets the basis of the assets involved to their fair market value at the time of the transfer.

If you later sell, you pay tax only on the amount gained over your new basis. And such sales out of a taxable account generally are taxed at capital gains rates, not ordinary income rates.

If an in-kind Required Minimum Distribution sounds attractive, act quickly so the transaction is completed by year-end.

How We Can Help

Sterling Tax and Accounting is here to help your business with tax planning!  Our comprehensive approach to tax planning helps reduce your overall tax liability and keep more money in your pocket.  If all your accountant does is file your taxes, chances are they are making you pay more than your fair share of taxes.

Learn how to proactively save on taxes by scheduling a call with our tax planning specialists.

Our tax planning, accounting & business services help you stay on track. Sterling Tax & Accounting will work with you to optimize your business and minimize your taxes. We will work to provide you and your business with the tools and resources you need to build a solid tax and business foundation. We’re a trusted CPA Firm in Sarasota, Florida. We serve clients all over the US, and proactively work to minimize their taxes.

Welcome to the Sterling Standard of business!  Want to learn more?  Schedule a meeting with our tax planning team here: https://www.sterling.cpa/contact-us/

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