patsmom
February 4, 2007, 11:45am
1
<p>I must have been living under a rock but I didn’t know about the tax break taking effect in 2008 that drops the tax rate on long-term capital gains to zero for those in the two lowest income brackets. I happened to come across a reference to an article on the subject here:http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07017/754508-68.stm[/url] ”>http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07017/754508-68.stm</a></p> ;
<p>What I gleaned from reading it is that this tax break can be extremely helpful tor parents who need to sell securities to pay for college tuition. By gifting up to $12,000 each in shares of appreciated stocks or mutual funds to their college-age children, high bracket parents may benefit by having their child sell the shares with no tax owed and using that money to pay their tuition directly. </p>
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Mark Luscombe, principal tax analyst at CCH, a Wolters Kluwer unit that provides tax and other business information, offers this example: Suppose the Joneses give stock that has gone up by $100,000 over several years to their 18-year-old daughter. Assume the income brackets, standard deduction and exemption amounts rise by about the same dollar amounts in 2008 and subsequent years as they did from 2006 to 2007. That means the daughter could have taxable income of up to about $33,900 in 2008 and stay within the 15 percent bracket, Mr. Luscombe estimates. Thus, she could sell part of the stock in 2008, remain in that bracket, and pay zero capital-gains tax on the sale – and then spread out selling the rest of the stock over the next two years. Or she could sell the entire amount in 2008 and pay zero tax on the first slice and 15 percent on the rest.
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<p>This can affect students who qualify for need-based aid, however, so the technique isn’t for everyone. But for those of us whose children will not qualify for federal financial aid, this is really good news. </p>
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But use caution: Such gifts may cause problems for students applying for college financial aid, or to seniors seeking Medicaid eligibility, including for nursing-home care. They could make a senior’s Social Security benefits subject to tax, or increase the tax on those benefits. Also, because of the recently expanded reach of the so-called kiddie tax, investment income above $1,700 for a child younger than 18 typically is charged at the parents’ higher tax rates. It’s always smart to check with a financial adviser before making a large transfer of shares.</p>
<p>Nadine Gordon Lee, president of Prosper Advisors LLC, an Armonk, N.Y., wealth-management firm, says she is already planning to take advantage of the upcoming 0 percent rate. She and her husband have begun transferring shares of equity-based mutual funds, purchased at a lower cost, to one of their sons, now 16. The plan is that he will begin selling them in 2008, when he turns 18, Ms. Lee says. The Lees also are giving highly appreciated stock to their other son, who is 19, and those shares are being sold this year at the current capital-gains-tax rate of 5 percent for lower-income brackets.</p>
<p>Giving appreciated stock “works nicely for funding the lifestyle of your college and graduate students who are not eligible for financial aid,” Ms. Lee says.</p>
<p>Before making any such gifts, be sure to check with a tax adviser on any possible gift-tax or estate-tax consequences, or other possible hitches, Ms. Lee says. However, a gift of this type may be an efficient way to use the annual gift-tax exclusion, she says. That means you can give away as much as $12,000 this year to anyone else – and to as many other people as you wish – without any federal gift-tax consequences. A husband and wife can give away a total of $24,000 per recipient. (Gifts that exceed those levels must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Generally, there’s a lifetime gift-tax exclusion of $1 million per donor. Gifts above that limit typically are subject to gift tax, and the top rate now is 45 percent. Gifts don’t count as taxable income to the recipient. They also aren’t deductible on the giver’s income tax returns.)</p>
<p>Investors should never sell securities solely because of tax considerations. But if you’re thinking of selling anyway, understanding the tax considerations can help you and your family keep more of the gains.
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<p>A tax professional posted this example on the newsgroup misc.taxes.moderated in response to a question from a poster there:</p>
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For example, suppose Parents, who file joint, will have
money to spend - than if Parents had sold the stock
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<p>For those parents who will be footing the entire tuition bill with no help from Uncle Sam, I think the idea of gifting appreciated shares to one’s child to be sold to pay tuition is a terrific idea. Why pay 15% capital gains tax if your child can pay 0 or 5%? Naturally, everyone’s situation will vary, so a visit to a tax advisor is a good idea first.</p>
dadx3
February 4, 2007, 12:51pm
2
<p>Of course if the child sells stock, with for example $24,000 of capital gains, to pay for college expenses, he or she may no longer qualify as a dependent of the parents for income tax purposes.</p>