Suprise! Taxes from Investments
Whether we like surprises or not, we all know in life there are good surprises, and some not-so-good surprises.
Two of the greatest surprises in my life were the phone calls telling me I had a baby boy waiting for me.
I adopted both my boys, and they were what they call “drop-ins,” meaning the birth mom didn’t have an adoption plan before giving birth. So I got a call that there was a baby, and I needed to pick up my new son the next day. It was like finding out you are pregnant in the baby is born the same day! Those were great surprises!
However, we also know that sometimes in life we get surprises that aren’t so great. The loss of a loved one, an unexpected bill, an unfavorable medical diagnosis…
…A surprise tax bill…
The 1099R for IRA’s
While it may surprise you, don’t be alarmed. A 1099R indicates a rollover or retirement plan distribution. It displays the amount moved or distributed, which may not always be taxable.
For example, if you roll money from your 401k to an IRA or another retirement plan, it is not a taxable event.
If you look closely at those 1099s, you’ll see a code that says not taxable, meaning it’s a non-taxable distribution. They still send you this 1099 showing that it went from one place to the other for reporting purposes.
This is a surprise that could put you a little bit on edge until you realize that it’s not a taxable event, so just be aware that all rollovers or distributions will generate this but look at the code to see what is taxable.
Hidden Capital Gains Tax
There are some other tax surprises that can come from investments that really do cost you, especially flow-through capital gains tax or what we call the hidden capital gains tax.When you have money in pooled accounts such as mutual funds and ETFs that are not in an IRA, but rather a brokerage be that an individual or joint account, you may receive unexpected capital gains bills.
In some cases, like this last year, you might have a loss in that account, yet you still end up owing taxes.
Why?
Hidden capital gains tax arises from fund redemptions, causing the fund to sell assets at gains, which are then distributed among remaining investors per the prospectus.
This is not a very fun surprise, especially when you’re down in accounts and end up still paying tax for gains you didn’t even realize. (we talk about this in more detail in our Tax Efficient Investing video)
The good news is that proper planning can help avoid the unwanted surprise of hidden capital gains.
Our team prioritizes tax-efficient investments to avoid surprise tax bills. When it comes to investing, if you don’t take taxes into effect, the return printed on your statement may not be your real return.
If you end up paying 10% or 15% in capital gains taxes, that affects your true net earnings.
Managing brokerage accounts in a tax-efficient way is crucial. We talk about this in more detail in Tax Efficient Investing part 2.
If you are surprised this year by hidden capital gains taxes, give us a call so we can talk about what you can do now to reduce your tax burden.
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