Tax Strategy Scan: Act now before Trump takes action

Here's how clients can boost their returns before the president-elect enacts the reforms he's promised, and other items in our weekly roundup of tax-related investment strategies and news your clients may be thinking about.

  • Last chance for 0% capital gains? Tax breaks on capital gains could fall victim to tax reform next year, which means the final days of 2016 may be your client's last chance to cash in, according to Kiplinger. Unrealized long-term capital gains selling before the markets close on Dec. 30 could wipe out the tax bill on those gains. Missing the deadline is a risk, if President-elect Trump and the Republican-led Congress enact a plan that is currently at the heart of the tax-reform debate. -- Kiplinger
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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media in the lobby at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. As Donald Trump prepares to assume the U.S. presidency, luxury towers from Istanbul to Manila that bear his name become de facto government symbols, making them potential terrorist targets. Experts say the question of how to protect them and who should pay poses a complex ethical and legal dilemma. Photographer: Albin Lohr-Jones/Pool via Bloomberg

  • Why more investors are donating stock to charity. Clients may want to accelerate their donations of appreciated securities to charities this year in the event President-elect Trump enacts reforms he's promised to make after taking office, according to The Wall Street Journal. They may end up with a bigger tax deduction, as tax rates are likely to drop under the new administration in 2017. “[I]t’s almost always better to donate the stock rather than selling the stock and giving cash, in a taxable account,” says an expert. -- The Wall Street Journal.
  • How Trump’s tax cuts (and hikes) will impact you, explained in one simple chart. There are taxpayers who would benefit and others who would lose under President-elect Donald Trump's tax plan, according to MarketWatch. Clients can refer to a chart in this report that breaks down the impacts of Trump's plan to simplify the Tax Code. -- MarketWatch
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