Tax season can be stressful no matter what your financial situation is.

Properly planning and working with the right financial and accounting professionals can keep you on track.

The first step to a seamless tax season is noting the key dates for your 2023 filing:

• January - March: 1099s sent out as complete information is received from the underlying investments that you own. These will be important as you file your taxes with your CPA or tax accountant

• April 15th: 2023 Roth or Traditional IRA contribution is tax filing deadline. Depending on your financial strategy, you may be opting to max out your contribution for 2023 - don’t miss this deadline!

• April 15th or October 15th (with extension): For Business Owners, Profit sharing contributions for 401(k) plans can be made up until tax filing deadline with extensions.

• April 15th or October 15th (with extension): SEP IRAs can be contributed to until your individual tax filing deadline.

Now keep in mind, if you’re working with a CPA, they have a lot going on during this time of year whether you know these dates or not.

At Sherman Private Wealth, we work with our clients’s CPAs to ease the tax-planning process

That includes a review of client tax returns as part of our due diligence for your long-term financial plan.

This can give us a few advantages:

- A second set of eyes on your tax return

- Streamlining of your CPA's process during the busiest time of their year

- A future looking snapshot and strategy for you taxes, which allows your CPA to focus on what they do best

By understanding this holistic picture, we can then do the following:

1. Provide a 'tax letter' for our clients to send to their CPA outlining the specific tax strategies we've implemented and a list of the tax documents they can expect from our firm

2. Update and review our clients' tax withholding for the coming year on all of their distributions

3. Review the new minimum required distributions which start over for all the accounts our client owns

4. If necessary, we'll refer our clients to work with a qualified CPA

These are all steps that aim to set you up for financial success in the long run by minimizing your tax return.

That's our distinct approach, it's what makes us different from other firms.

Bonus Tips: How to avoid getting flagged by the IRS

Believe it or not, certain tax strategies will immediately get flagged by the IRS and subject you to higher audit rates.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't use them, but you should take caution and proper due diligence when determining which tax strategies are right for you.

Things like:

- Home office deductions

- Improper income reporting

- Excessive business deductions

- Reporting losses from a hobby

Working with a qualified professional on your long term tax strategy can be crucial if you want to try to minimize your lifetime tax liability in the long run.

We've been applying a tax-first financial planning approach for individuals nearing retirement for over 20 years. That includes being lock-step with my clients' CPAs.

If you’ve got questions about your tax return, need a CPA referral, or don’t know which strategies are right for you, let’s connect.

This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal or investment advice. If you are seeking investment advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own separate from this material.

Sherman Private Wealth Management and LPL Financial does not offer tax advice or tax preparation services.