Tag Archives: tax

Form 5498 … Sneaky late arriving tax form can cause confusion … Reminder of purpose of said sneaky 5498 …

Had a great Post about rates garnered from an updated Graphic from our friends at Visual Capitalist ready… it even is the starting point for a group of articles in our next Newsletter… BUT…this sneaky tax form causes lots of confusion and a late week email reminded….so watch for the Rate Post Wednesday – and a shortened Memorial Day Weekend post Friday with family travels next week! So lets go!

With a reminder email hitting our in box late last week from our back office team….

We wanted to share as this late arriving tax form can be confusing…

Late Arriving Form 5498 About to hit !

Form 5498 is the settlement of contributions to Qualified assets like Rollovers, SEP’s and also an ending balance …. most all of this is for the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) recordkeeping….

Here is why:

The contributions allows the IRS to know we in fact did make the contribution i.e. Did not spend the funds – so no taxes or in other cases a tax write off is A ok on our tax return

IRS needs to know the IRA balance for RMD (Required Minimum Distributions) – Recall mandatory draws are based on age and prior year end balances…

Ohh…one other confusing but important point… contributions to SEP or the like made for the prior year (2022) will show a current year (2023) contribution… no worries the IRS matches it to our tax return!

Have a Great “Sneaky Tax Form Reminder” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Q2 2023 J.K. Financial, Inc. Newsletter … Tax Reminders – Still time for 2022 Savings … M2 Pilot Advanced Analysis Series Review … By John Kvale CFA, CFP …

Welcome to our Video and Audio Podcast Review of our Q2 2023 Newsletter. For those on the road or just unable to grab the time to read, our podcast type review gives you the behind the scenes insight to our thoughts, observations and deep views of the entire Newsletter.

Click the Download button below, for a direct link to an electronic version (an early peek-good ole fashion paper versions are on their way to you shortly) and here for our Newsletter page

BREAK IN : From Parting Thoughts in the Newsletter

If you are not receiving our street-cents.com blog posts weekly Monday, Wednesday and Fri-day, please reach out and let us know. We have entered the late cycle portion of this economic slowdown and items are moving much quicker than our quarterly newsletter so we are posting frequent and very important items amongst our sometimes-humorous articles for your review and knowledge.

Let’s get going! We hope you enjoy!

Q2 2023 Newsletter

(YouTube)

Last Minute Tax Planning and Reminders

After a small top of the mind reminder that it is ok to pay taxes, we do not want to pay zero today and then pay at a much higher rate in the future, we certainly do not want to pay ANY more than we have to, we go into several reminders….

The SEP and the Spousal IRA – two things we can do now that will help last years taxes….

Important Reminder about reporting :

Just because we did not receive a tax form personally, does not mean that the IRS did not receive some type of notification of that taxable event! If you had a transaction, usually of some out of the ordinary type, that you did not receive a tax form for, we are not out of the woods and you should report it.

Lastly, comments about the possible rolling of 529 into Roth… the answer is still up in the air with additional legal clarity on this… but it cannot start until 2024 anyway!

Happy Anniversary Rate Increases

While hard to believe, the monumental rate increases (fastest of a life time in %) just started about a year ago

M2 Broad Liquidity Measure Tightens

In another – not kidding here – never seen before, M2 one of the broadest measures of liquidity, turns negative and makes our Pilot Advanced Analysis Series…

First spoken about in January, the effects are being felt through the financial system.. but not where we had expected so far….

Have a Great Finally Here Spring! Talk in the Summer!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
www.jkfinancialinc.com
www.street-cents.com

Green Light on Taxes – Corrected 1099 Out – You Lucky One have already been contacted!

We are in receipt of our Corrected Tax Form (1099) and we are happy to report a total of 1 … yep only a solo….. lucky family and you have already been contacted.

This does not mean we cannot have another as there are four more corrected rounds before completion. BUT, over the last years we have found the first run gives us a good idea of the expected future.

As a point of reference we have had years when the first round was nearing triple digits, just to put the solo reported in context. Stranger things have happened, but we are most likely in the clear!

Have a Great “Corrected Tax Form” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Tax Forms Update – They are all Completed – Yay – Let the Corrected Clock Tick … Personal Fun Longevity Experience while Walking into the Building … Friday … Back Yard Punxsutawney Phil Tree Update …

Tax Forms Update

Ya ya… lot’s about Tax “Stuff” this time of the year year, but tis the season…. So some good news here!

This week all forms dropped for everyone… a lot had already been completed, but there were still a fair amount that had not been completed…..

If you have not received your form and need it, let us know as we have quick electronic access and can email it to you…. Most importantly, now the Corrected clock starts ticking… We will be in touch!

Personal Longevity Experience

Early this week while entering my building a nice elderly couple, led by the husband with a stroller mentioned they were moving slowly …. as I held the door with absolute pleasure to do so, I said not to worry, my father is happily 95 years old …. and we all move a bit slower as we luckily make those notches in our belts…

Surprisingly, the nice lady just behind the couple bellows… “My mom just turned 100 ..So I am in no hurry, just take your time!”

Still holding the door … the gentleman behind her yells “My dad is 87, you take your time sir … and enjoy the day and no problem!”

Couple of things to take from this experience….

  • What a great way to start the day …
  • Many are living longer …
  • Break the silence when you can … I think all parties involved also had a super start to their day!

Punxsutawney Phil Backyard Tree Update

Can you tell we are ready for spring to arrive? HA

Break In: Wow did we have a bad storm come through last night… 90 mph winds in some places … hope all close are ok!

By the way, Spring Break is two weeks out AND the time changes next week… a favorite day!

So how is our Punxsutawney Phil Tree doing? This picture is literally hours hold from the time you received the update…..

Notice the change? Here we go… with two weeks away, the next update should be interesting!

Have a Great Friday and a super weekend, next week is a one day early shortened “Work” week due to kids free day due to weather day make up Friday and the following is a tethered technology Spring Break week…but that is two weeks away.. enjoy your weekend and talk next week!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

IRS Pointers to filing 2022 Return… A Few Good Reminders !

Well… the headline of the story was more grabbing than the actual content….but heck it worked on us, and grabbed our attention….

Here are the key points from the IRS article:

1. Gather tax paperwork and records for accuracy to avoid missing a deduction or credit.

Some information taxpayers need before they begin includes:

  • Social Security numbers for everyone listed on the tax return,
  • Bank account and routing numbers,
  • Various tax forms such as W-2s, 1099s, 1098s and other income documents or records of digital asset transactions,
  • Form 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace statement,
  • Any IRS letters citing an amount received for a certain tax deduction or credit.

We are good with this… a little obvious, but ok… Measure twice cut once and be safe! Onward ….

​​​​​​​2. Remember to report all types of income on the tax return. (We would add, reported or not!)

This is important to avoid receiving a notice or a bill from the IRS. Don’t forget to include income from:

  • Goods created and sold on online platforms,
  • Investment income,
  • Part-time or seasonal work,
  • Self-employment or other business activities,
  • Services provided through mobile apps.

We would add, just because you did not receive a tax notice, DOES NOT mean the IRS did not and is looking for the appropriate notation on your tax return (Huge amount of time this occurs with cashing Series EE bonds) … a missing item is an easy automated paper letter audit….and as mentioned here absolutely requires a response

From the afore mentioned post :

Amazingly nearly 2/3 of audits, which are almost all done by paper due to the cost of a field audit are not answered, resulting in a claim on the taxpayer. Bottom line, make sure you show the IRS that you’re answering their questions in a timely fashion and expect a paper computer driven notice.

3. File electronically with direct deposit to avoid delays in receiving a refund.

We are really good with this one, and have been encouraging ES payments electronically for some time now.

Ok… that is about the end of what we like in the article and what applies to everyone that is reading this post….

We find the IRS reasonably fair… sometimes they lead with you are the bad guy trying to cheat…but this is usually diffused with a nice appropriate timely answer….

Have a Great “Basic IRS Tips Review” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

ES Payment Reminder … Confirming another “NEW” RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) age of 73 … First Week in the Books … Was a busy but good one!

Attention all ES IRS payment filers….January 17th is our due date this year for our Q4 2022 Estimated taxes!

With continued slow mail, we still like to direct everyone to the electronic filings of your state and the Federal payments system.

Tax Due Dates

Payment Due Dates


You can pay all of your estimated tax by April 18, 2022, or
in four equal amounts by the dates shown below.
1st payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April 18, 2022
2nd payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . June 15, 2022
3rd payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sept. 15, 2022
4th payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan. 17, 2023*

  • You don’t have to make the payment due January 17,
    2023, if you file your 2022 tax return by January 31, 2023,
    and pay the entire balance due with your return.

Electronic Payment of ES Taxes

Here is the IRS tax website link, which is very easy to make electronic estimated taxes. Be sure to follow the instructions carefully as there are a lot of different options for making payments to taxes, and be sure to carefully enter your personal information so the IRS knows it’s you.

RMD Changed (again) this time to 73

As mentioned earlier, those turning 72 in the year of 2023, your new RMD age starting time is now 73! yay…. boy do they keep moving this target… at least farther out!

Hope you had a Great first week of the year… we were busy as expected, thanks for your patience on any delays!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

New 2023 Contribution Limits, 401k, IRA, Roth, SEP

Once again not surprising with the afore mentioned COLA adjustment on Social Security…. Retirement contribution limits were also adjusted by a large amount….

We find ourselves reviewing this amount so frequently and getting confused as the calendar turns as well as being in the next tax year but making contributions for the prior…. we are going to have a special tab here on our blog moving forward that will have two years data. The IRS Release.

So here we go!

Retirement Contribution Limits

  • 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, increased to $22,500 (2023), up from $20,500 (2022)
  • Catch up for those over 50 is increased to $7,500 (2023), up from $6,500 (2022)
  • Total max 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans including catch up is $30,000 (2023) up from $27,000 (2022)
  • limit on annual contributions to an IRA increased to $6,500 (2023), up from $6,000 (2022)
  • IRA catch up for those age 50 and greater remains $1000
  • Annual Gift Exclusion amount increased to $17,000 (2023) from $16,000 (2022)

This takes care of the great majority of retirement plans…but for the record we do not like the formatting and will wait to post the new page once a more comprehensive and better formatted list is completed….

Have a “Fresh of the Presses IRS Retirement Increased Limit” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Great Time of the Year to Check Run Rate of Contributions to Retirement Plans or the Like

With a pending holiday week coming up in the next several and as mentioned before many on Wall Street seem to be getting their kids back to school. We thought it a timely time to remind everyone to check those retirement contribution run rates….


Great time to review your contribution levels

Midway through the third-quarter, is a good time for all of us to review our retirement contribution levels. If our intent is to max out your 401(k), or other retirement plan, take a peek and see if you’re on track to achieve this goal.



If you have any questions certainly shoot us your latest paycheck and we can do the calculations, but here are roughly where we should be on our contributions to the regular and ketchup 401(k) levels.


Ideally your year to date (YTD) contribution levels for your 401(k) regular withholding by yourself should be about $13,500 in order to meet the $20,500 regular filing maximum by the end of the year and if our goal is to achieve the $27K catchup for those 50 and older we should be at about the $18,000 level today. Both of these should be our individual YTD withholding amounts. We know there are matching and employer contributions … but the rules are set for us as an individual at the $19,500 regular maximum and $27,000 catch-up maximum.

Two quick reminders… if you have changed employers it is our job to keep up with the maximum amounts as mentioned here because our new employer will not know our prior contributions… Lastly we like to max fund early our contributions if we know we are not going to be at our employer the full year…. Especially if we may be going to another place that may not have a plan or may have a mandatory waiting period..

There are variances in certain situations, most of which we have already discussed, but those that we have not recently …

  This is your friendly reminder!

Have a Great “Retirement Run Rate” Reminder Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Taxes are Done… Well at least most… Spring is here, Mosquito Bite Proves… Friday

Monday after a long holiday weekend made for the final day of the regular form 1040 Tax filing day… yay

Extenders, which there are many, we will wrap up those as the needed documents arrive, but for the most part all the hard work is complete.

As mentioned earlier, we like the firm date of filing, but it does make for extraordinary busy days… all good of course…

Speaking of taxes, for those that have not, we always like a copy for our records for review and safe keeping… amazing how many threads of light our tax return will shed if needed… Thanks to all of those who have already shared a copy!!

Spring has Sprung

Usually the faithful tree out back makes for a good Spring has Sprung alert…. this year with the holiday and late spring, it came and went before we could make note here…. BUT the mosquito bite is a sure, but much less pleasurable sign Spring has Sprung….

Ahhhhh, but today is a Friday on a Spring has Sprung Weekend… Enjoy and talk next week!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Tax Season notes from the field, Be Careful what you ask for, Missing Basis, Automatic Transaction Downloads Great … Automatic Transactions Downloads Not Great, Macro Theme for 2021 Returns …

For the past several years … as we all know, tax season was delayed for various reasons, with exceptional confusion last year due to various filing dates depending on your geographic location.  As we finished those seasons, which due to the delays were very long, we wished for our tried and true middle of April due date.

In truly be careful what you ask for form, it has been … to say the least … hectic this year!  We will get through this together (and except for those extension filers) on the other side of middle/April we will have the great majority of the yearly tax filings completed! Yay

Tax Seasons Findings

Each tax season seems to have its own theme or spirit so to say, and this one is no different!

We are finding an abnormally large amount of missing basis on transactions … especially any unusual transaction. Please double check to make sure your bases is included on your return, just because there’s zero marked on the tax form it’s highly likely you have a basis and it was just not reported. We have seen numerous zero basis reporting by one of the very largest firms that specializes in stock options this year. Don’t miss a basis as this is a mistake to our own disadvantage that the IRS would not catch! Yikes

We are neutral on the automatic download from your financial company to import transactions,. We completely understand it’s a hassle especially for those that are doing it themselves to download all of the transactions, that being said, the automatic downloads are sometimes working perfectly and other times not at all. Similar to your missing bases from before above, check those transactions to make sure they’re in the correct spot of your return…. i.e. Long term or short term

From a very high level we are broadly seeing more taxes due across-the-board than in prior years for various reasons.  Not to be a downer but just to set everyone’s expectations as we get closer to completion, there may be extra taxes due!

Be sure to reach out if you have any questions or concerns and we urge you if you have not started your taxes or delivered your information to your tax professional, do so now as the aforementioned normal deadline has everyone shell shocked as we return to the normal super busy season.

Have a Great “Tax Season Spirit Update” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents