Tax Season

Post by **LITT** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 6:57 am

i need to liquidate a brokerage account through fidelity for funds for down payment on a house. are there any clever ways to do this to mitigate any potential tax implications?

Post by **Beveridge** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:16 am

I assume you are talking stock funds and not funds from an IRA?

Post by **LITT** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:31 am

it is not a retirement acct

Post by **columbia** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:34 am

What's in the account?

Post by **LITT** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:40 am

my money? not sure specifically what you are asking

Post by **columbia** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:44 am

I was wondering if you had any capital gains losses to report, which you wouldn't with a money market account.

Post by **LITT** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:46 am

some of it is money market. the rest is in a few different funds

Post by **willeyeam** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:23 am

LITT wrote:i need to liquidate a brokerage account through fidelity for funds for down payment on a house. are there any clever ways to do this to mitigate any potential tax implications?

Not really. Hopefully it's just a trading fund and not an IRA you set up because then you'll be paying penalties.

Post by **willeyeam** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:24 am

LITT wrote:Source of the post it is not a retirement acct

durr disregard my second sentence

Post by **meow** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:16 pm

Not really tax related, but finance related. mrs. meow and I financed house carpeting two years ago through Wells Fargo. We paid it off about a month ago. Do we need to close the account somehow or does it cease to exist once the balance hits $0.00?

Post by **Sam's Drunk Dog** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:50 pm

meow wrote:Not really tax related, but finance related. mrs. meow and I financed house carpeting two years ago through Wells Fargo. We paid it off about a month ago. Do we need to close the account somehow or does it cease to exist once the balance hits $0.00?

You probably need to close the account unless you received a letter from them saying that the account is closed. Or you could run a credit report and see if it is listed as an open account.

Post by **willeyeam** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:52 pm

they should send a letter stating its paid off

Post by **meow** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:05 pm

Sidenote: what site do people use to check their credit report?

Post by **Freddy Rumsen** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:08 pm

Received our tax refund today.... #havelotsofkids

Post by **tifosi77** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:23 pm

meow wrote:Sidenote: what site do people use to check their credit report?

I monitor my credit using creditkarma.com, which was recommended in the credit thread at el gippy.

If you are just looking to get copies of your credit reports, go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com. It is the only place where you can go and get free copies of your credit reports from all the bureaus simultaneously. (You're entitled to do so once per year) I made the mistake of going to one of the bureaus directly a few months ago, somehow thinking I was getting a free report. I immediately was charged something like $45 and enrolled in that bureau's version of Credit Karma. Stupid.

Post by **columbia** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:25 pm

If you have a Discover card, you can also get your FICO score through their dashboard.

Post by **meow** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:48 pm

columbia wrote:If you have a Discover card, you can also get your FICO score through their dashboard.

We have that, but mrs. meow and I share an account and she had it before we were married so I believe that's her score.

Post by **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 7:29 pm

Litt there isn't much you can do about reducing your tax burden but this gentleman suggests setting aside 20% of your net gain (total sales price minus total cost) for your 2015 taxes.

Post by **Sam's Drunk Dog** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 7:55 pm

Is there any way to reduce modified AGI other than opening an IRA? I've researched it and that seemed like the only way to do it, but me and the wife make too much to qualify. I'm trying to reduce it so I can take advantage of at least some of the student loan interest credit as my my wife will be paying a significant next year.

Post by **columbia** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 8:12 pm

If you don't qualify to get the full deduction in an IRA, I'd just use a Roth and let it growth tax free in the future.

Post by **columbia** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 8:14 pm

Having said that, the max contribution for 401K/403b, etc accounts is now $18,000/yr....fill that up first.

Post by **columbia** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 8:17 pm

You can also pour $$$ into an HSA account, which will effectively work like an IRA. Also, I believe the limit for iBonds is $10,000 a year, plus another $5K for the paper version.

Post by **Sam's Drunk Dog** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 9:45 pm

Thanks for the advice. We are already both contributing to Roth 401K plans offered by our employers. I contribute to an FSA offered by my employer as well.

Post by **mac5155** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 10:12 pm

Sam's Drunk Dog wrote:Is there any way to reduce modified AGI other than opening an IRA? I've researched it and that seemed like the only way to do it, but me and the wife make too much to qualify. I'm trying to reduce it so I can take advantage of at least some of the student loan interest credit as my my wife will be paying a significant next year.

The 2500 buck deduction amounts to like 400 dollars of refund. It sucks. #thanksobama

Post by **MalkinIsMyHomeboy** » Sat Apr 11, 2015 3:19 pm

uh

so I got a letter yesterday from the IRS: "We received your income tax return and are in the process of conducting a thorough review of your return information. This review is part of an ongoing program the IRS conducts to insure the accuracy of return information".

has anyone gotten a letter like this before? I'm kind of irrationally worried since I know I just reported what was on my W-2 and didn't have any tax credit claims