Your high-net-worth clients may have a trove of clues to help you map their finances: A recent survey of affluent Americans (either $250,000 in investable assets or more than $200,000 household income) for the American Institute of CPAs showed that nearly four out of five HNW taxpayers are likely to use their tax return to guide their financial plan.

“Tax returns can provide scores of planning ideas,” said Greg Horning,  director/co-founder of the SC&H Group in Sparks, Md. He said that significant planning areas based on parts of a return include:

Savings rate and tax efficiency (IRS Form W-2, Schedules B and D, Form 8606): Should the wealthy client employ deductible or Roth strategies? Based on their tax bracket, should they be invested in taxable or municipal bonds?

“Very little 1099 activity for interest or dividends … raises the concern that the client may not have much of a balance sheet and may be spending more of their income than may be healthy,” added David Levi, CPA, PFS and senior managing director in the Minneapolis office of CBIZ MHM.

Charitable giving (taxable retirement account distributions, Schedules A and D, Form 8606): “As a result of tax reform, many families will receive less tax benefit from their giving due to the substantial increase in the standard deduction,” Horning said. “We expect these clients to employ a bunching strategy [for deductions]. We also see many opportunities to use appreciated securities to improve the tax efficiency of giving.”

Business interests (Form W-2, Schedule E): “The changes in tax rates and the new deduction of 20 percent of certain pass-through income changed how we think about entity structuring and reasonable compensation,” Horning said.

HNW clients do look to their tax return as a starting point for pulling together a financial plan, said Thomas Bayer, partner-in-charge of Sikich LLP’s Indianapolis office – but there’s more beyond the return, “such as life insurance policies or non-taxable accounts, which may not be required to be reported. Investment income, including capital gains, can also push HNW clients into a higher bracket,” he said.

When reviewing your HNW client’s return, question with an eye to re-targeting money, said Gail Rosen, a CPA with Wilkin & Guttenplan in Martinsville, N.J. “A client might have unused losses … that we can use. They can have rental property with unused passive losses that they may consider selling and free up capital to be invested elsewhere.”

“For some clients, the last several years of growing markets and low interest rates have encouraged them to use more leverage, either to invest on margin or keep larger mortgage balances and leave their other assets invested. As interest rates have risen and more limitations have been placed on deductible interest, unwinding some of these situations needs to be strongly considered,” Levi said.

“Looking at total generated income on the return, both taxable and non-taxable, gives clients a better idea of how much their investments are actually earning. Also check the Form 5498s to see how retirement plans are doing,” said Brian Stoner, a CPA in Burbank, Calif. “Take into account how their earnings are reduced by investment expenses, especially now that investment management fees based on a percent of assets are no longer deductible as itemized deductions.” Stoner added that in certain situations becoming a S-Corp (depending on the industry) may allow the taxpayer to continue to take unreimbursed employee business expenses that were lost as itemized deductions.

“For very-HNW clients, we’re looking at taking advantage of the doubling of the lifetime transfer amount and making gifts now,” Levi said. “We’re mindful of the possible consequences of a reduction in the amount in the future, as well as the loss of a step-up in basis for gifted rather than inherited assets, but balancing those issues against the potential growth of the client’s wealth in their own names is a valuable exercise.”