Tax day is fast approaching, but advisors seem to be more worried about April 15, 2018, than next month's tax deadline.
Uncertainty surrounds what President Trump might propose for tax cuts and what he will be able to get through Congress this year. Financial advisors say they're watching carefully so they can help clients plan for next year's taxes.
“Right now, I do not advise clients to do anything irrevocable because what Trump is proposing may or may not happen,” says Jonathan Albano, partner and financial planner at CCR Wealth Management in Westborough, Mass. “My clients, mostly high net worth, are not worried about running out of money, but their planning depends on the complexity of their situations, so we will wait and see.”
Others might advocate some actions now, but nothing drastic. Rebecca Walser, of Walser Wealth, a tax and financial planning firm for high-net-worth clients in Tampa, Fla., says taxes in the short term probably will go down. When they do, it would be a good time to roll over some pretax accounts to Roth accounts or other post-tax accounts.
“But taxes over a long-term time frame are still going to go up,” she adds.
Charles Haims, vice president of marketing for MyVest, a technology-focused wealth management firm for advisors in San Francisco, says all planning should be done on a long-term basis and not geared to immediate tax policies.
“There are a lot of known best practices, but not everyone puts them into practice on a regular basis,” he says. “For instance, active tax harvesting can be done throughout the year” no matter how tax policies change.
There are a lot of moving parts involved in tax changes that could be floated this year. For instance, Trump has vowed to repeal the federal estate tax, although individual states can still impose their own.
“Another thing to put on the table to talk about next year is the potential for inflation,” which increases the need to do efficient tax planning, says Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, a wealth management firm with offices in Boston and worldwide.
“We’re in a year of flux. You don’t want to put yourself in a box,” agrees John Frownfelter, managing director of investment solutions at SEI Advisor Network. “Tax planning and investment planning are two different things.” Frownfelter says conversions to Roth accounts are high on his priority list for 2017 if Trump eliminates the 33 percent and 28 percent income tax brackets and lowers most taxpayers to a 25 percent bracket.