What Are Tax Shelters? And How They Can Benefit You

ByFrank Rodriguez

Today there are many options for reducing the taxes that you might be required to pay. Learning what are tax shelters and how you can benefit legally by using them will be helpful for you when you are preparing your tax return or planning for the future year. These are investments or donations which allow you to defer the amount of taxes you might otherwise be required to pay.

Discovering which of these options are available to you will help you determine where you may invest your money to avoid additional taxation. By placing your taxable income in various areas that provide favorable treatment regarding taxes, you will find that your taxable income is minimized or reduced in such a way that you avoid the liability of taxes that would normally be imposed.

The most common investment type in this classification is employer sponsored 401K plans. By placing a certain percentage of your monthly into a 401K, that taxes that would be due are deferred and sometimes eliminated altogether. This accomplished two separate purposes. First you are saving for your future retirement and secondly you are avoiding additional taxation on that income at least for a period of time.

When considering the various options, it will be important that you are cautious in what types of investments you will make. When you invest money solely for the purpose of avoiding the taxation on that income, you could be penalized and face fines and fees as well as being forced to pay the taxes on that income as well. It will be very important that you are using these investments as something other than a way to avoid additional taxation, like the 401K.

It is important to not confuse evasion with sheltering. By evading taxes, you are avoiding paying the liability amount on income on purpose with no other purpose. By investing in shelters, you are avoiding the taxation but you are investing in a manner that will increase the amount that has been saved toward retirement or for some other purpose.

By reducing the liability associated with your taxable income, you are able to lower or minimize the amount of taxes you will be required to pay. This will allow you to pay the minimal amounts of taxes while still maintaining a good rate of savings for your retirement and other opportunities. Not all investments however will be nontaxable.

Some investments offer you the ability to invest but are not activities that will reduce your liability. Purchasing stocks and things of that nature will not be deductible for taxation purposes. Many of the typical investments do not offer a reduction in taxes. However, as stated things such as a 401K will allow you to deduct the amount invested from your taxable income, thereby reducing your liability.

Learning what are tax shelters and what are not will save you many headaches when you are planning your year or working on your taxes for the year end. By understanding how you will be able to use various items to reduce your liability will help you invest wisely and reduce your liability for that amount of income.

Please stop by the website for more on tax shelters and other similar financial topics. A large collection of similar areas like fixed income securities are reviewed.

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