Business Owners: Strategies To Reduce Your Taxable Income To Qualify For The New 20% Qualified Business Income Deduction

Many small business owners have a QBI 20% deduction available for their pass-through income, but you may need to position your business to take full advantage of this lucrative tax deduction. It’s important to be aware that the Qualified Business Income ("QBI") deduction has taxable income thresholds. Once the owner's personal taxable income exceeds specific dollar amounts, the 20% deduction will either phase out or trigger an alternative calculation that could lower the deduction.

The Taxable Income Thresholds

Regardless of whether you are considered a “services business” or “non-services business” under the new tax law, you will need to be aware of the following income thresholds:

Individual: $197,300

Married: $394,600

These threshold amounts are based on the “total taxable income” listed on the tax return of the business owner. Not “AGI” and not just the pass-through income from the business. Total taxable income. For example, if I make $100,000 in net profit from my business and my wife makes $400,000 in W-2 income, our total taxable income on our married filing joint tax return is going to be way over the $394,600 threshold. So do we completely lose the 20% deduction on the $100,000 in pass-through income from the business? Maybe not!!

The Safe Zone

For many business owners, to maximize the new 20% deduction, they will do everything that they can to keep their total taxable income below the thresholds. This is what I call the “safe zone”. If you keep your total taxable income below these thresholds, you will be allowed to take your total qualified business income, multiply it by 20%, and you’re done. Once you get above these thresholds, the 20% deduction will either begin to phase out or it will trigger the alternative 50% of W-2 income calculation which may reduce the deduction.  The phase out ranges are listed below:

Individuals: $197,300 to $247,300

Married: $394,600 to $494,600

As you get closer to the top of the range the deduction begins to completely phase out for “services businesses” and for “non-services business” the “lesser of 20% of QBI or 50% of wages paid to employees” is fully phased in.

What Reduces "Total Taxable Income"?

There are four main tools that business owners can use to reduce their total taxable income:

• Standard Deduction or Itemized Deductions

• Self-Employment Tax

• Retirement Plan Contributions

• Timing Expenses

Standard & Itemized Deductions

Since tax reform eliminated many of the popular tax deductions that business owners have traditionally used to reduce their taxable income, for the first time in 2018, a larger percentage of business owners elected to take the standard deduction instead of itemizing. You do not need to itemize to capture the 20% deduction for your qualified business income. This will allow business owners to take the higher standard deduction and still capture the 20% deduction on their pass-through income. Whether you take the standard deduction or continue to itemize, those deductions will reduce your taxable income for purposes of the QBI income thresholds.

Example: You are a business owner, you are married, and your only source of income is $400,000 from your single member LLC. At first look, it would seem that your total income is above the $383,900 threshold and you are subject to the phase out calculation. However, if you elect the standard deduction for a married couple filing joint, that will reduce your $400,000 in gross income by the $30,000 standard deduction which brings your total taxable income down to $370,000. Landing you below the threshold and making you eligible for the full 20% deduction on your qualified business income.

The point of this exercise is for business owners to understand that if your gross income is close to the beginning of the phase out threshold, somewhere within the phase out range, or even above the phase out range, there may be some relief in the form of the standard deduction or your itemized deductions.

Self-Employment Tax

Depending on how your business is incorporated, you may be able to deduct half of the self-employment tax that you pay on your pass-through income. Sole proprietors, LLCs, and partnership would be eligible for this deduction. Owners of S-corps receive W2 wages to satisfy the reasonable compensation requirement and receive pass-through income that is not subject to self-employment tax. So this deduction is not available for S-corps.

The self-employment tax deduction is an “above the line” deduction which means that you do not need to itemize to capture the deduction. The deduction is listed on the first page of your 1040 and it reduces your AGI.

Example: You are a partner at a law firm, not married, the entity is taxed as a partnership, and your gross income is $250,000. Like the previous example, it looks like your income is over the $197,300 threshold for a single tax filer. But you have yet to factor in your tax deductions. For simplicity, let’s assume you take the standard deduction:

Total Pass-Through Income: $250,000

Less Standard Deduction: ($15,000)

Less 50% Self-Employ Tax: ($15,000) $200,000 x 7.5% = $15,000

Total Taxable Income: $220,000

While your total taxable income did not get you below the $197,300 threshold, you are now only mid-way through the phase out range so you will capture a portion of the 20% deduction on your pass-through income.

Retirement Plans – "The Golden Goose"

Retirement plans will be the undisputed Golden Goose for purposes of reducing your taxable income for purposes of the qualified business income deduction. Take the example that we just went through with the attorney in the previous section. Now, let’s assume that same attorney maxes out their pre-tax employee deferrals in the company’s 401(k) plan. The limit in 2025 for employees under the age of 50 is $23,500.

Total Pass-Through Income: $250,000

Less Standard Deduction: ($15,000)

Less 50% Self-Employ Tax: ($15,000)

Pre-Tax 401(k) Contribution: ($23,500)

Total Taxable Income: $196,500

Jackpot!! That attorney has reduced their taxable income below the $197,300 QBI threshold and they will be eligible to take the full 20% deduction against their pass-through income.

Retirement plan contributions are being looked at in a new light starting since 2018. Not only are you reducing your tax liability by shelter your income from taxation but now, under the new rules, you are simultaneously increasing your QBI deduction amount.

When tax reform was in the making there were rumors that Congress may drastically reduce the contribution limits to retirement plans. Thankfully this did not happen. Long live the goose!!

Start Planning Now

Knowing that this Golden Goose exists, business owners will need to ask themselves the following questions:

• How much should I plan on contributing to my retirement accounts this year?

• Is the company sponsoring the right type of retirement plan?

• Should we be making changes to the plan design of our 401(k) plan?

• How much will the employer contribution amount to the employees increase if we try to max out the pre-tax contributions for the owners?

Business owners are going to need to engage investment firms and TPA firms that specialize in employer sponsored retirement plan. Up until now, sponsoring a Simple IRA, SEP IRA, or 401(K), as a way to defer some income from taxation has worked but tax reform will require a deeper dive into your retirement plan. The golden question:

“Is the type of retirement plan that I’m currently sponsoring through my company the right plan that will allow me to maximize my tax deductions under the new tax laws taking into account contribution limits, admin fees, and employer contributions to the employees.”

If you are not familiar with all of the different retirement plans that are available for small businesses, please read our article “Comparing Different Types Of Employer Sponsored Plans”.

DB / DC Combo Plans Take Center Stage

While DB/DC Combo plans have been around for a number of years, you will start to hear more about them going forward. A DB/DC Combo plan is a combination of a Defined Benefit Plan (Pension Plan) and a Defined Contribution Plan (401k Plan). While pension plans are usually only associated with state and government employers or large companies, small companies are eligible to sponsor pension plans as well. Why is this important? These plans will allow small business owners that have total taxable income well over the QBI thresholds to still qualify for the 20% deduction.

While defined contribution plans limit an owner’s aggregate pre-tax contribution to $70,000 per year in 2025 ($77,500 for owners age 50+), DB/DC Combo plans allow business owners to make annual pre-tax contributions ranging from $60,000 – $345,000 per year. Yes, per year!!

Example: A married business owner makes $600,000 per year and has less than 5 full time employees. Depending on their age, that business owner may be able to implement a DB/DC Combo plan prior to December 31, 2025, make a pre-tax contribution to the plan of $345,000, and reduce their total taxable income below the $383,900 QBI threshold.

Key items to make these plans work:

• You need to have the cash to make the larger contributions each year

• These DB/DC plan needs to stay in existence for at least 3 years

• This plan design usually works for smaller employers (less than 10 employees)

Shelter Your Spouse's W-2 Income

It's not uncommon for a business owner to have a spouse that earns W-2 wages from employment outside of the family business. Remember, the QBI thresholds are based on total taxable income on the joint tax return. If you think you are going to be close to the phase out threshold, you may want to encourage your spouse to start putting as much as they possibly can pre-tax into their employer's retirement plan. Unlike self-employment income, W-2 income is what it is. Whatever the number is on the W-2 form at the end of the year is what you have to report as income. By contrast, business owners can increase expenses in a given year, delay bonuses into the next tax year, and deploy other income/expense maneuvers to play with the amount of taxable income that they are showing for a given tax year.

Timing Expenses

One of the last tools that small business owners can use to reduce their taxable income is escalating expense. Now, it would be foolish for businesses to just start spending money for the sole purpose of reducing income. However, if you are a dental practice and you were planning on purchasing some new equipment in 2025 and purchasing a software system in 2026, depending on where your total taxable income falls, you may have a tax incentive to purchase both the equipment and the software system all in 2025. As you get toward the end of the tax year, it might be worth making that extra call to your accountant, before spending money on those big ticket items. The timing of those purchases could have big impact on your QBI deduction amount.

Disclosure: The information in this article is for educational purposes. For tax advice, please consult your tax advisor.

About Michael.........

Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.

How Rental Income Will Be Taxed In Years 2019+

Tax reform will change the way rental income is taxed to landlords beginning in 2018. Under current law, rental income is classified as "passive income" and that income simply passes through to the owner's personal tax return and they pay ordinary income tax on it. Beginning in 2018, rental income will be eligible to receive the same preferential tax treatment as the "qualified business income" (QBI) for small business owners.

20% Deduction

Starting in 2018, taxpayers with qualified business income (including rental income), may be eligible to take a tax deduction up to 20% of their QBI. Determining whether or not you will be eligible to capture the full 20% deduction on your rental income will be based on your total taxable income for year. The taxable income thresholds are as follows:Single filers: $157,500Married filing joint: $315,000"Total taxable income" is not your AGI (adjusted gross income) and it's not just income from your real estate business or self-employment activities. It's your total taxable income less some deductions. The IRS has yet to provide us with full guidance on the definition of "total taxable income". For example, let's assume you have three rental properties owned by an LLC and you net $50,000 in income from the LLC each year. But your wife is a lawyer that makes $350,000 per year. Your total taxable income for the year would be $400,000 landing you above the $315,000 threshold.

Below The Income Threshold

If your total taxable income is below the income thresholds listed above, the calculation is very easy. Take your total QBI and multiply it by 20% and that's your tax deduction.

Above The Income Threshold

If your total taxable income is above the thresholds, the calculation gets more complex. If you exceed the income thresholds, your deduction is the LESSER of:

1. 20% of QBI

1. The GREATER OF:

• 50% of W-2 wages paid to employees

• 25% of W-2 wages paid to employees PLUS 2.5% of the unadjusted asset basis

The best way to explain the calculation is by using an example. Assume the following:

• I bought a commercial building 3 years ago for $1,000,000

• I have already captured $100,000 in depreciation on the building

• After expenses, I net $150,000 in income each year

• The LLC that owns the property has no employees

• I'm married

• I own a separate small business that makes $400,000 in income

Since I'm over the $315,000 total taxable income threshold for a married couple filing joint, I will calculate my deduction as follows:The LESSER of:

1. 20% of QBI = $30,000 ($150,000 x 20%)

1. The GREATER of:

• 50% of W-2 wage paid to employees = $0 (no employees)

• 25% of W-2 wages page to employees plus 2.5% of unadjusted basis

(25% of wages = $0) + (2.5% of unadjusted basis = $25,000) = $25KIn this example, my deduction would be limited to $25,000. Here are a few special notes about the calculation listed above. In the 11th hour, Congress added the "2.5% of unadjusted basis" to the calculation. Without it, it would have left most landlords with a $0 deduction. Why? Real estate owners typically do not have W-2 employees, so 50% of W-2 wages would equal $0. Some larger real estate investors have "property management companies" but they are usually set up as a separate entity. In which case, the W-2 income of the property management company would not be included in the calculation for the QBI deduction. If you are someone who owns a property or properties and is need of a Property management company to help you with organizing and operating your property, then doing research in your general area to find a real estate company that can help you with that is important.Another special note, 2.5% is based on an unadjusted basis and it's not reduced by depreciation. However, the tangible property has to be subject to depreciation on the last day of the year to be eligible for the deduction. Meaning, even though the 2.5% is not reduced for the amount of depreciation already taken on the property, the property must still be in the "depreciation period" on the last day of the year to be eligible for the QBI deduction.Tony Nitti, a writer for Forbes, also makes the following key points:

• The depreciable period starts on the date the property is placed in service and ends on the LATER of:

- 10 years, or- The last day of the last full year in the asset's "regular" (not ADS) depreciation periodMeaning, if you purchase a non-residential rental building that is depreciated over 39 years, the owner can continue to capture the depreciation on the building but that will not impact the 2.5% unadjusted basis number for the full 39 years of the depreciation period.

• Any asset that was fully depreciated prior to 2018, unless it was placed in service after 2008, will not count toward the basis.

• Shareholders or partners may only take into consideration for purposes of applying the limitation 2.5% his or her allocable share of the basis of the property. So if the total basis of commercial property is $1,000,000 and you are a 20% owner, you basis limitation is $1,000,000 x 20% x 2.5% = $5,000

Phase-In Of The Threshold

The questions I usually get next is: "If I'm married and our total taxable income is $320,000 which is only $5,000 over the threshold, do I automatically have to use the more complex calculation?" The special calculation "phases in" over the following total taxable income thresholds:Single filers: $157,500 - $207,500Married filing joint: $315,000 - $415,000I won't get into the special phase-in calculation because it's more complex than the special "above the income threshold" calculation that we already walked through but just know that it will be a blend of the straight 20% deduction and the W-2 & 2.5% adjusted basis calculation.

Qualified Trade or Business Requirement

In August 2018, the IRS came out with further clarification of how the QBI deduction would apply to real estate. In order to qualify for the QBI deduction for real estate income, your real estate holdings have to qualify as a "trade or business". The definition of a trade or business for QBI purposes deviates slightly from the traditional IRS definition. There is a safe harbor that states if you spend more than 250 hours a year working on that business it will qualify for the deduction.There are a few items to consider in the 250 hour calculation. So called "drive bys" where the owner is spending time driving by their properties to check on them does not count toward the 250 hours. If you have a property management company, the hours that they spend managing your propoerty can be credited toward your 250 hour requirement. However, the property management company has to provide you with proper documentation to qualify for those credited hours.

Consult Your Accountant

I'm a Certified Financial Planner®, not an accountant. I wrote this article to give real estate investors a broad view of what tax reform may have instore for them in 2018. If you own rental property, you should be actively consulting with our accountant through the year. As the IRS continues to release guidance regarding the QBI deduction throughout 2018, you will want to make sure that your real estate holdings are positioned properly to take full advantage of the new tax rules.

About Michael.........

Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.

How Pass-Through Income Will Be Taxed For Small Business Owners

While one of the most significant changes incorporated in the new legislation was reducing the corporate tax rate from the current 35% rate to a 21% rate in 2018, the tax bill also contains a big tax break for small business owners. Unlike large corporations that are taxed at a flat rate, most small businesses, are "pass-through" entities, meaning that the profits from the business flow through to the business owner's personal tax return and then are taxed at ordinary income tax rates.While pass-through income will continue to be taxed at ordinary income tax rates, many small business owners will be eligible to deduct 20% of their "qualified business income" (QBI) starting in 2018. In other words, some pass-through entities will only be taxes on 80% of their pass-through income.

Pass-through entities include

Sole proprietorships

Partnerships

LLCs

S-Corps

Unanswered Questions

I wanted to write this article to give our readers the framework of what we know at this point about the treatment of the pass-through income in 2018. However, as many accountants will acknowledge, there seems to be more questions at this point then there are answers. The IRS will need to begin issuing guidance at the beginning of 2018 to clear up many of the unanswered questions as to who will be eligible and not eligible for the new 20% deduction.

Above or Below "The Line"

This 20% deduction will be a below-the-line deduction which is an important piece to understand. Tax lingo makes my head spin as well, so let's pause for a second to understand the difference between an "above-the-line deduction" and a "below-the-line deduction".The "line" refers to the AGI line on your tax return which is the bottom line on the first page of your Form 1040. While both above-the-line and below-the-line deductions reduce your taxable income, it's important to understand the difference between the two.

Above-The-Line Deductions

Above-the-line deductions happen on the first page of your tax return. These deductions reduce your gross income to eventually reach your AGI (adjusted gross income) for the year. Above-the-line deductions include:

• Contributions to health savings accounts

• Contributions to retirement plans

• Deduction for one-half of the self-employment taxes

• Health insurance premiums paid

• Alimony paid, student loan interest, and a few others

The AGI is important because the AGI is used to determine your eligibility for certain tax credits and it will also have an impact on which below-the-line deductions you are eligible for. In general, the lower your AGI is, the more deductions and credits you are eligible to receive.

Below-The-Line Deductions

Below-the-line deductions are reported on lines that come after the AGI calculation. They are comprised mainly of your “standard deduction” or “itemized deductions” and “personal exemptions” (most of which will be gone starting in 2018). The 20% deduction for qualified business income will fall into this below-the-line category. It will lower the income of small business owners but it will not lower their AGI.

However, it was stated in the tax legislation that even though the 20% qualified business deduction will be a below –the-line deduction it will not be considered an “itemized deduction”. This is a huge win!!! Why? If it’s not an itemized deduction, then small business owners can claim the 20% qualified business income deduction and still claim the standard deduction. This is an important note because many small business owners may end up taking the standard deduction for the first time in 2018 due to all of the deductions and tax exemptions that were eliminated in the new tax bill. The tax bill took away a lot of big deductions:

• Capped state and local taxes at $10,000 (this includes state income taxes and property taxes)

• Eliminated personal exemptions ($4,050 for each individual) (Eliminated in 2018)

  • Family of 4 = $4,050 x 4 = $16,200 (Eliminated in 2018)

• Miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to 2% of AGI floor (Eliminated in 2018)

Restrictions On The 20% Deduction

If life were easy, you could just assume that I'm a sole proprietor, I make $100,000 all in pass-through income, so I will get a $20,000 deduction and only have to pay tax on $80,000 of my income. For many small business owners it may be that easy but what's a tax law without a list of restrictions.The restriction were put in place to prevent business owners from reclassifying their W2 wages into 100% pass-through income to take advantage of the 20% deduction . They also wanted to restrict employees from leaving their company as a W2 employee, starting a sole proprietorship, and entering into a sub-contractor relationship with their old employer just to reclassify their W2 wages into 100% pass-through income.

S-Corps

Qualified business income will specifically exclude "reasonable compensation" paid to the owner-employee of an S-corp. While it would seem like an obvious reaction by S-corp owners to reduce their W2 wages in 2018 to create more pass through income, they will still have to adhere to the "reasonable compensation" restriction that exists today.

Partnerships & LLCs

Qualified business income will specifically exclude guaranteed payments associated with partnerships and LLCs. This creates a grey area for these entities. Partnerships do not have a “reasonable compensation” requirement like S-corps since companies taxed as partnerships are not allowed to pay W2 wages to the owners. Also the owners of partnerships are not required to take guaranteed payments. My guess is, and this is only a guess, that as we get further into 2018, the IRS may require partnerships to classify a percentage of a owners total compensation as a “guaranteed payment” similar to the “reasonable compensation” restriction that S-corps currently adhere too. Otherwise, partnerships can voluntarily eliminate guaranteed payments and take the 20% deduction on 100% of the pass-through income.

This may also prompt some S-corps to look at changing their structure to a partnership or LLC. For high income earners, S-corps have an advantage over the partnership structure in that the owners do not pay self-employment tax on the pass-through income that is distribution to the owner over and above their W2 wages. However, S-corp owners will have to weigh the self-employment tax benefit against the option of changing their corporate structure to a partnership and potentially receiving a 20% deduction on 100% of their income.

Sole Proprietors

Sole proprietors do not have "reasonable compensation" requirement or "guaranteed payments" so it would seem that 100% of the income generated by sole proprietors will count as qualified business income. Unless the IRS decides to enact a "reasonable compensation" requirement for sole proprietors in 2018, similar to S-corps. Before everyone runs from a single member LLC to a sole proprietorship, remember, a sole proprietorship offers no liability barrier between the owner and liabilities that could arise from the business.

Income Restrictions

There are limits that are imposed on the 20% deduction based on how much the owner makes in “taxable income”. The thresholds are set at the following amounts:

Individual: $157,500

Married: $315,000

The thresholds are based on each business owner’s income level, not on the total taxable income of the business. We need help from the IRS to better define what is considered “taxable income” for purposes of this phase out threshold. As of right now, it seems that “taxable income” will be defined as the taxpayer’s own taxable income (not AGI) less deductions.

If the owner’s taxable income is below this threshold, then the calculation is a simple 20% deduction of the pass-through income. If the owner’s taxable income exceeds the threshold, the qualified business deduction is calculated as follows:

The LESSER of:

20% of its business income OR 50% of the total wages paid by the business to its employees

Let’s look at this in a real life situation. A manufacturing company has a net profit of $2M in 2018 and pays $500,000 in wages to its employees during the year. That company would only be able to take the qualified business income deduction for $250,000 since 50% of the total employee wages ($500,000 x 50% = $250,000) are less than 20% of the net income of the business ($2M x 20% = $400,000).

This creates another grey area because it seems that the additional calculation is triggered by the taxable income of each individual owner but the calculation is based on the total profitability and wages paid by the company. For the owners that required this special calculation for exceeding the threshold, how is their portion of the lower deduction amount allocated? Multiplying the lower total deduction amount by the percent of their ownership? Just more unanswered questions.:

Restrictions For "Service Business"

There will be restrictions on the 20% deduction for pass-through entities that are considered a "service business" under IRC Section 1202(e)(3)(A). The businesses specifically included in this definition as a services business are:

• Health

• Law

• Accounting

• Actuarial Sciences

• Performing Arts

• Consulting

• Athletics

• Financial Services

• Any other trade or business where the principal asset of the business is the reputation or skill of 1 or more of its employees

In a last minute change to the regulations, to their favor, engineers and architects were excluded from the definition of “service businesses”.

This is another grey area. Many small businesses that fall outside of the categories listed above will undoubtedly be asking the question: “Am I considered a service business or not?” Outside of the industries specifically listed in the tax bill, we really need more guidance from the IRS.

If you are a “services business”, when the tax reform was being negotiated it looked like service businesses were going to be completely excluded from the 20% deduction. However, the final regulations were more kind and instead implemented a phase out of the 20% deduction for owners of service businesses over a specified income threshold. The restriction will only apply to those whose “taxable income” exceeds the following thresholds:

Individual: $157,500

Married: $315,000

If you are a consultant or owner of a services business and your taxable income is below these thresholds, it would seem at this point that you will be able to capture the 20% deduction for your pass-through income. As mentioned above, we need help from the IRS to clarify the definition of “taxable income”.

Phase Out For Service Businesses

The amounts listed above: $157,500 for individual and $315,000 for a married couple filing joint, are where the thresholds for the phase out begins. The service business owners whose income rises above those thresholds will phase out of the 20% deduction over the next $50,000 of taxable income for individual filers and $100,000 of taxable income for married filing joint. This means that the 20% pass-through deduction is completely gone by the following income levels:

Individual: $207,500

Married: $415,000

Any taxpayer’s falling in between the threshold and the phase out limit will receive a portion of the 20% deduction.

Since the thresholds are assessed based on the taxpayer’s own taxable income and not the total income of the business, a service business could be in a situation, like in an accounting firm, where the partners with the largest ownership percentage may not qualify for 20% deduction but the younger partners may qualify for the deduction because their income is lower.

Tax Planning For 2018

It's an understatement to say that most small business owners will need to spend a lot of time with their accountant in the first quarter of 2018 to determine the best of course of action for their company and their personal tax situation.While we are still waiting for clarification on a number of very important items associated with the 20% deduction for qualified business income, hopefully this article has provided our small business owners with a preview of things to come in 2018.

Disclosure: I'm a Certified Financial Planner® but not an accountant. The information contained in this article was generated from hours and hours of personal research on the topic. I advise each of our readers to consult with your personal tax advisor for tax advice.

About Michael.........

Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.

Tax Reform: Summary Of The Changes

The conference version of the tax bill was released on Friday. The House and the Senate will be voting to approve the updated tax bill this week with what seems to be wide spread support from the Republican party which is all they need to sign the bill into law before Christmas. Most of the changes will not take effect until 2018 with new tax rates for individuals set to expire in 2025. At which time the tax rates and brackets will return to their current state. Here is a run down of some of the main changes baked into the updated tax bill:

Individual Tax Rates

They are keeping 7 tax brackets with only minor changes to percentages in each bracket. The top tax bracket was reduced from 39.6% to 37%.

Capital Gains Rates

There were no changes to the capital gains rates and they threw out the controversial mandatory FIFO rule for calculating capital gains tax when selling securities.

Standard Deduction and Personal Exemptions

They did double the standard deduction limits. Single tax payers will receive a $12,000 standard deduction and married couples filing joint will receive a $24,000 standard deduction.The personal exemptions are eliminated.

Mortgage Interest Deduction

New mortgages would be capped at $750,000 for purposes of the home mortgage interest deduction.

State and Local Tax Deductions

State and local tax deduction will remain but will be capped at $10,000. An ouch for New York State. That $10,000 can be a combination of your property tax and either sales or income tax (whichever is larger or will get you to the cap of $10,000).Oh and you cannot prepay your 2018 state income taxes in 2017 to avoid the cap. They made it clear that if you prepay your 2018 state income taxes in 2017, you will not be able to deduct them in 2017.

Medical Expense Deductions

Medical expense deductions will remain for 2017 and 2018 and they lowered the AGI threshold to 7.5%. Beginning in 2019, the threshold will change back to the 10% threshold.

Miscellaneous Expense Deductions

Under the current rules, you are able to deduct miscellaneous expenses that exceed 2% of your AGI. That was eliminated. This includes unreimbursed business expenses and home office expenses.

A Few Quick Ones

Student Loan Interest: Still deductible

Teacher Out-of-Pocket Expenses: Still deductible

Tuition Waivers: Still not taxable

Fringe Benefits (including moving expenses): Will be taxable starting in 2018 (except for military)

Child Tax Credit: Doubled to $2,000 per child

Gain Exclusion On Sale Of Primary Residence: No Change

Obamacare Individual Mandate: Eliminated

Corporate AMT: Eliminated

Individual AMT: Remains but exemption is increased: Individuals: $70,300 Married: $109,400

Corporate Tax Rate: Drops to 21% in 2018

Federal Estate Tax: Remains but exemption limit doubles

Alimony

For divorce agreements signed after December 31, 2018, alimony will no longer be deducible. This only applies to divorce agreements executed or modified after December 31, 2018.

529 Plans

Under current tax law, you do not pay taxes on the earnings for distributions from 529 accounts for qualified college expenses. The new tax reform allows 529 account owners to distribute up to $10,000 per student for public, private and religious elementary and secondary schools, as well as home school students.

Pass-Through Income For Business

This is still a little cloudy but in general under the conference bill, owners of pass-through companies and sole proprietors will be taxed at their individual tax rates less a 20% deduction for business-related income, subject to certain wage limits and exceptions. The deduction would be disallowed for businesses offering "professional services" above a threshold amount; phase-ins begin at $157,500 for individual taxpayers and $315,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly.

About Michael.........

Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.

M&A Activity: Make Sure You Address The Seller’s 401(k) Plan

Buying a company is an exciting experience.  However, many companies during a merger or acquisition fail to address the issues surrounding the seller’s retirement plan which can come back to haunt the buyer in a big way.   I completely understand why this happens.  Purchase price, valuations, tax issues, terms, holdbacks, and new employment agreements tend to dominate the conversations throughout the business transaction.   But lurking in the dark, below these main areas of focus, lives the seller’s 401(k) plan.  Welcome to the land of unintended consequences where unexpected liabilities, big dollar outlays, and transition issues live.

Asset Sale or Stock Sale

Whether the transaction is a stock sale or asset sale will greatly influence the series of decisions that the buyer will need to make regarding the seller’s 401(k) plan.  In an asset sale, it is common that employees of the seller’s company are terminated from employment and subsequently “rehired” by the buyer’s company.  With asset sales, as part of the purchase agreement, the seller will often times be required to terminate their retirement plan prior to the closing date.

Terminating the seller’s plan prior to the closing date has a few advantages from both the buyer’s standpoint and from the standpoint of the seller’s employees. Here are the advantages for the buyer:

Advantage 1:  The Seller Is Responsible For Terminating Their Plan

From the buyer’s standpoint, it’s much easier and cost effective to have the seller terminate their own plan.  The seller is the point of contact at the third party administration firm, they are listed as the trustee, they are the signer for the final 5500, and they typically have a good personal relationship with their service providers.  Once the transaction is complete, it can be a headache for the buyer to track down the authorized signers on the seller’s plan to get all of the contact information changed over and allows the buyer’s firm to file the final 5500.

The seller’s “good relationship” with their service providers is key. The seller has to call these companies and let them know that they are losing the plan since the plan is terminating.  There are a lot of steps that need to be completed by those 401(k) service providers after the closing date of the transaction.  If they are dealing with the seller, their “client”, they may be more helpful and accommodating in working through the termination process even though they losing the business. If they get a random call for the “new contact” for the plan, you risk getting put at the bottom of the pile

Part of the termination process involves getting all of the participant balances out of the plan. This includes terminated employees of the seller’s company that may be difficult for the buyer to get in contact with.   It’s typically easier for the seller to coordinate the distribution efforts for the terminated plan.

Advantage 2:  The Buyer Does Not Inherit Liability Issues From The Seller’s Plan

This is typically the main reason why the buyer will require the seller to terminate their plan prior to the closing date.  Employer sponsored retirement plans have a lot of moving parts.  If you take over a seller’s 401(k) plan to make the transition “easier”, you run the risk of inheriting all of the compliance issues associated with their plan. Maybe they forgot to file a 5500 a few years ago, maybe their TPA made a mistake on their year-end testing last year, or maybe they neglected to issues a required notice to their employees knowing that they were going to be selling the company that year.  By having the seller terminate their plan prior to the closing date, the buyer can better protect themselves from unexpected liabilities that could arise down the road from the seller’s 401(k) plan.

Now, let’s transition the conversation over to the advantages for the seller’s employees.

Advantage 1: Distribution Options

A common goal of the successor company is to make the transition for the seller’s employees as positive as possible right out of the gate.  Remember this rule:  “People like options”.  Having the seller terminate their retirement plan prior to the closing date of the transactions gives their employees some options. A plan termination is a “distributable event” meaning the employees have control over what they would like to do with their balance in the seller’s 401(k) plan.  This is also true for the employees that are “rehired” by the buyer.  The employees have the option to:

• Rollover their 401(k) balance in the buyer’s plan (if eligible)

• Rollover their 401(k) balance into a rollover IRA

• Take a cash distribution

• Some combination of options 1, 2, and 3

The employees retain the power of choice.

If instead of terminating the seller’s plan,  what happens if the buyer decides to “merge” the seller’s plan in their 401(k) plan?  With plan mergers, the employees lose all of the distribution options listed above. Since there was not a plan termination, the employees are forced to move their balances into the buyer’s plan.

Advantage 2:  Credit For Service With The Seller’s Company

In many acquisitions, again to keep the new employees happy, the buyer will allow the incoming employee to use their years of service with the seller’s company toward the eligibility requirements in the buyer’s plan.  This prevents the seller’s employees from coming in and having to satisfy the plan’s eligibility requirements as if they were a new employee without any prior service.  If the plan is terminated prior to the closing date of the transaction, the buyer can allow this by making an amendment to their 401(k) plan.

If the plan terminates after the closing date of the transaction, the plan technically belonged to the buyer when the plan terminated.  There is an ERISA rule, called the “successor plan rule”, that states when an employee is covered by a 401(k) plan and the plan terminates, that employee cannot be covered by another 401(k) plan sponsored by the same employer for a period of 12 months following the date of the plan termination.  If it was the buyer’s intent to allow the seller’s employees to use their years of service with the selling company for purposes of satisfy the eligibility requirement in the buyer’s plan, you now have a big issue. Those employees are excluded from participating in the buyer’s plan for a year.  This situation can be a speed bump for building rapport with the seller’s employees.

Loan Issue

If a company allows 401(k) loans and the plan terminates, it puts the employee in a very bad situation. If the employee is unable to come up with the cash to payoff their outstanding loan balance in full, they get taxed and possibly penalized on their outstanding loan balance in the plan.

Example: Jill takes a $30,000 loan from her 401(k) plan in May 2017.  In August 2017, her company Tough Love Inc., announces that it has sold the company to a private equity firm and it will be immediately terminating the plan.  Jill is 40 years old and has a $28,000 outstanding loan balance in the plan.  When the plan terminates, the loan will be processed as an early distribution, not eligible for rollover, and she will have to pay income tax and the 10% early withdrawal penalty on the $28,000 outstanding loan balance. Ouch!!!

From the seller’s standpoint, to soften the tax hit, we have seen companies provide employees with a severance package or final bonus to offset some of the tax hit from the loan distribution.

From the buyer’s standpoint, you can amend the plan to allow employees of the seller’s company to rollover their outstanding 401(k) loan balance into your plan.  While this seems like a great option, proceed with extreme caution.  These “loan rollovers” get complicated very quickly.  There is usually a window of time where the employee’s money is moving over from seller’s 401(k) plan over to the buyer’s 401(k) plan, and during that time period a loan payment may be missed.  This now becomes a compliance issue for the buyer’s plan because you have to work with the employee to make up those missed loan payments.  Otherwise the loan could go into default.

Example, Jill has her outstanding loan and the buyer amends the plan to allow the direct rollover of outstanding loan balances in the seller’s plan.  Payroll stopped from the seller’s company in August, so no loan payments have been made, but the seller’s 401(k) provider did not process the direct rollover until December.  When the loan balance rolls over, if the loan is not “current” as of the quarter end, the buyer’s plan will need to default her loan.

Our advice, handle this outstanding 401(k) loan issue with care.  It can have a large negative impact on the employees. If an employee owes $10,000 to the IRS in taxes and penalties due to a forced loan distribution, they may bring that stress to work with them.

Stock Sale

In a stock sale, the employees do not terminate and then get rehired like in an asset sale.  It’s a “transfer of ownership” as opposed to “a sale followed by a purchase”.  In an asset sale, employees go to sleep one night employed by Company A and then wake up the next morning employed by Company B.  In a stock sale, employees go to sleep employed by Company A, they wake up in the morning still employed by Company A, but ownership of Company A has been transferred to someone else.

With a stock sale, the seller’s plan typically merges into the buyer’s plan, assuming there is enough ownership to make them a “controlled group”.  If there are multiple buyers, the buyers should consult with the TPA of their retirement plans or an ERISA attorney to determine if a controlled group will exist after the transaction is completed.   If there is not enough common ownership to constitute a “controlled group”, the buyer can decide whether to continue to maintain the seller’s 401(k) plan as a standalone plan or create a multiple employer plan.    The basic definition of a “controlled group” is an entity or group of individuals that own 80% or more of another company.

Stock Sales: Do Your Due Diligence!!!

In a stock sale, since the buyer will either be merging the seller’s plan into their own or continuing to maintain the seller’s plan as a standalone, you are inheriting any and all compliance issues associated with that plan.  The seller’s issues become the buyer’s issues the day of the closing.   The buyer should have an ERISA attorney that performs a detailed information request and due diligence on the seller’s 401(k) plan prior the closing date.

Seller Uses A PEO

Last issue.  If the selling company uses a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) for their 401(k) services and the transaction is going to be a stock sale, make sure you get all of the information that you need to complete a mid-year valuation or the merged 5500 for the year PRIOR to the closing date.  We have found that it’s very difficult to get information from PEO firms after the acquisition has been completed.

The Transition Rule

There is some relief provided by ERISA for mergers and acquisitions.  If a control group exists, you have until the end of the year following the year of the acquisition to test the plans together.  This is called the “transition rule”.   However, if the buyer makes “significant” changes to the seller’s plan during the transition period, that may void the ability to delay combined testing.  Unfortunately, there is not clear guidance as to what is considered a “significant change” so the buyer should consult with their TPA firm or ERISA  attorney before making any changes to their own plan or the seller’s plan that could impact the rights, benefits, or features available to the plan participants.

Horror Stories

There are so many real life horror stories out there involving companies that go through the acquisition process without conducting the proper due diligence and transition planning with regard to the seller’s retirement plan.  It never ends well!!  As the buyer, it’s worth the time and the money to make sure your team of advisors have adequately addressed any issues surrounding the seller’s retirement plan prior to the closing date. 

About Michael……...

Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.

Tax Reform: At What Cost?

The Republicans are in a tough situation.  There is a tremendous amount of pressure on them to get tax reform done by the end of the year.  This type of pressure can have ugly side effects.  It’s similar to the Hail Mary play at the end of a football game.  Everyone, including the quarterback, has their eyes fixed on the end zone but nobody realizes that no one is covering one of the defensive lineman and he’s just waiting for the ball to be hiked.   The game ends without the ball leaving the quarterback’s hands.

The Big Play

Tax reform is the big play.  If it works, it could lead to an extension of the current economic rally and more.  I’m a supporter of tax reform for the purpose of accelerating job growth both now and in the future.  It’s not just about U.S. companies keeping jobs in the U.S. That has been the game for the past two decades.  The new game is about attracting foreign companies to set up shop in the U.S. and then hire U.S. workers to run their plants, companies, subsidiaries, etc.  Right now we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world which has not only prevented foreign companies from coming here but it has also caused U.S. companies to move jobs outside of the United States.  If everyone wants more pie, you have to focus on making the pie bigger, otherwise we are all just going to sit around and fight over who’s piece is bigger.

Easier Said Than Done

How do we make the pie bigger?  We have to lower the corporate tax rate which will entice foreign companies to come here to produce the goods and services that they are already selling in the U.S.   Which is easy to do if the government has a big piggy bank of money to help offset the tax revenue that will be lost in the short term from these tax cuts. But we don’t.

$1.5 Trillion In Debt Approved

Tax reform made some headway in mid-October when the Senate passed the budget. Within that budget was a provision that would allow the national debt to increase by approximately $1.5 trillion dollars to help offset the short-term revenue loss cause by tax reform.  While $1.5 trillion sounds like a lot of money, and don’t get me wrong, it is, let’s put that number in context with some of the proposals that are baked into the proposed tax reform.

Pass-Through Entities

One of the provisions in the proposed tax reform is that income from “pass-through” businesses would be taxed at a flat rate of 25%. 

A little background on pass-through business income: sole proprietorships, S corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), and partnerships are known as pass-through businesses. These entities are called pass-throughs, because the profits of these firms are passed directly through the business to the owners and are taxed on the owners’ individual income tax returns. 

How many businesses in the U.S. are pass-through entities?  The Tax Foundation states on its website that pass-through entities “make up the vast majority of businesses and more than 60 percent of net business income in America. In addition, pass-through businesses account for more than half of the private sector workforce and 37 percent of total private sector payroll.” 

At a conference in D.C., the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA), estimated that the “pass through 25% flat tax rate” will cost the government $6 trillion - $7 trillion in tax revenue. That is a far cry from the $1.5 trillion that was approved in the budget and remember that is just one of the many proposed tax cuts in the tax reform package.

Are Democrats Needed To Pass Tax Reform?

Since $1.5 trillion was approved in the budget by the senate, if the proposed tax reform is able to prove that it will add $1.5 trillion or less to the national debt, the Republicans can get tax reform passed through a “reconciliation package” which does not require any Democrats to step across the aisle.  If the tax reform forecasts exceed that $1.5 trillion threshold, then they would need support from a handful of Democrats to get the tax reformed passed which is unlikely.

Revenue Hunting

To stay below that $1.5 trillion threshold, the Republicans are “revenue hunting”.  For example, if the proposed tax reform package is expected to cost $5 trillion, they would need to find $3.5 trillion in new sources of tax revenue to get the net cost below the $1.5 trillion debt limit.

State & Local Tax Deductions – Gone?

One for those new revenue sources that is included in the tax reform is taking away the ability to deduct state and local income taxes.   This provision has created a divide among Republicans. Since many southern states do not have state income tax, many Republicans representing southern states support this provision.   Visa versa, Republicans representing states from the northeast are generally opposed to this provision since many of their states have high state and local incomes taxes.   There are other provisions within the proposed tax reform that create the same “it depends on where you live” battle ground within the Republican party.

Obamacare

One of the main reasons why the Trump administration pushed so hard for the Repeal and Replace of Obamacare was “revenue hunting”.  They needed the tax savings from the repeal and replace of Obamacare to carrry over to fill the hole that will be created by the proposed tax reform.  Since that did not happen, they are now looking high and low for other revenue sources.

Retirement Accounts At Risk?

If the Republicans fail to get tax reform through they run the risk of losing face with their supporters since they have yet to get any of the major reforms through that they campaigned on.  Tax reform was supposed to be a layup, not a Hail Mary and this is where the hazard lies.  Republicans, out of the desperation to get tax reform through, may start making cuts where they shouldn’t.  There are rumors that the Republican Party may consider making cuts to the 401(k) contribution limits and employers sponsored retirement plan.  Even though Trump tweeted on October 23, 2017 that he would not touch 401(k)’s as part of tax reform, they are running out of the options for other places that they can find new sources of tax revenue.  If it comes down to the 1 yard line and they have the make the decision between making deep cuts to 401(k) plans or passing the tax reform, retirement plans may end up being the sacrificial lamb.  There are other consequences that retirement plans may face if the proposed tax reform is passed but it’s too broad to get into in this article. We will write a separate article on that topic.

Tax Reform May Be Delayed

Given all the variables in the mix, passing tax reform before December 31st is starting to look like a tall order to fill.  If the Republicans are looking for new sources of revenue, they should probably look for sources that are uniform across state lines otherwise they risk splintering the Republican Party like we saw during the attempt to Repeal and Replace Obamacare.  We are encouraging everyone to pay attention to the details buried in the tax reform.  While I support tax reform to secure the country’s place in the world both now and in the future, if provisions that make up the tax reform are rushed just to get something done, we run the risk of repeating the short lived glory that tax reform saw during the Reagan Era.   They passed sweeping tax cuts, the deficits spiked, and they were forced to raise tax rates a few years later. 

About Michael……...

Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.

How Do Single(k) Plans Work?

What is a Single(k) Plan?

A Single(k) plan is an employer-sponsored retirement plan for owner-only entities, meaning you have no full-time employees. These owner-only entities get the benefits of having a full-fledged 401(k) plan without the large administrative costs associated with traditional 401(k) plans.

What is the definition of a “full-time” employee?

Oftentimes, a small company will have some part-time staff. It does not matter whether you consider them “part-time”, the definition of full-time employee is defined by the IRS as working 1000 hours in a 12-month period. If you have a “full-time” employee, you would not be eligible to sponsor a Single(k) plan.

Types of Contributions

There are two types of contributions to these plans. Employee deferral contributions and employer profit sharing contributions. The employee deferral piece works like a 401(k) plan. If you are under the age of 50 you can contribute $23,500, in 2025, in employee deferrals. If you are 50-59 or 64 or older, you get the $7,500 catch up contribution so you can contribute $31,000 in employee deferrals. Beginning in 2025, if you are age 60-63, instead of the $7,500 catch-up, you can contribute an additional $11,250 for a total of $34,750 in employee deferrals.

The reason why these plans are a little different than other employer sponsored plans is the employee deferral piece allows you to put 100% of your compensation into these plans up to those dollar thresholds.

In addition to the employee deferrals, you can also contribute 20% of your net earned income in the form of a profit-sharing contribution. For example, if you make $100,000 in net earned income from self-employment and you are age 53, you could contribute $31,000 in employee deferrals and then you could contribute an additional $20,000 in the form of a profit-sharing contribution. Making your total pre-tax contribution $51,000.

Establishment Deadline

The deadline for establishing a Solo(k) plan varies based on how the business is incorporated. If the business is an S-Corp or multi-member partnership, the business owner(s) must have the Solo(k) plan setup by December 31st. If the business is a sole proprietor or single member LLC, the Solo(k) plan can be setup by the tax filing deadline plus extension. 

Loans & Roth Deferrals

Single(k) plans provide all of the benefits to the owner of a full 401(k) plan at a fraction of the cost. You can set up the plan to allow 401(k) loan and Roth deferral contributions.

SEP IRA vs Single(k) Plans

A lot of small business owners find themselves in a position where they are trying to decide between setting up a SEP IRA or a Single(k) plan. One of the big factors, that is often times the deciding factor, is how much the owner intends to contribute to the plan. The SEP IRA limits the business owner to just the 20% of net earned income. Whereas the Single(k) plan allows the 20% of net earned income plus the employee deferral contribution amount. However, if 20% of your net earned income would satisfy your target amount then the SEP IRA may be the right choice.

Advanced Strategy Using A Single(k) Plan

Here is a great tax strategy if you have one spouse that is the primary breadwinner bringing in most of the income and the other has self-employment income for a side business. If the spouse with the self-employment income is over the age of 50 and makes $20,000 in net earned income, they could set up a Single(k) Plan and defer the full $20,000 into their Single(k) plan as employee deferrals. If they had a SEP IRA, the max contribution would have been $4,000.

A huge tax savings for a married couple that is looking to lower their tax liability.

About Rob……...

Hi, I’m Rob Mangold. I’m the Chief Operating Officer at Greenbush Financial Group and a contributor to the Money Smart Board blog. We created the blog to provide strategies that will help our readers personally , professionally, and financially. Our blog is meant to be a resource. If there are questions that you need answered, pleas feel free to join in on the discussion or contact me directly.

How Do Phantom Stock Plans Work?

In the world of executive compensation, there are a number of ways that a company can reward key employees.  Although most companies are familiar with traditional deferred compensation plans, one of the lesser known options which is growing in popularity is called a “phantom stock plan”.   Especially in small to mid-size companies.

Here is the most common situation, a closely held business or family business has a key employee that they would like to reward but also further tie that employee to the company.  The current owners of the company do not want to give up equity but they want to tie this reward system to the actual performance of the company as if that key employee was an owner or shareholder.   This can be accomplished via a phantom stock plan.

These plans provide select employees with additional compensation equal to the appreciation of a percent of the company for a partnership, LLC, or PLLC, or in the case of an S-corp or C-corp a given number of shares in the company even though the ownership only exists in theory.  For example, I own a company that is incorporated as a partnership and I would like to reward a key employee by providing them with an annual cash reward equal to a 5% ownership stake in the company without formally making them a partner.  Once the books are closed at the end of year I will issue a cash bonus to that employee equal to 5% of the net profits for the year.  From the employee’s standpoint, they are receiving the monetary reward mimicking a 5% ownership share of the company so they have an incentive to continue to grow the company.  From the employer’s standpoint, they have taken further steps to retain a key employee, they can deduct the additional comp pay to the employee, and the current owners have retained full control of the company.

The features of these plans and how they are design are limitless because they are just another flavor of nonqualified executive compensation plan. A few plan design features are listed below:

• Companies have full discretion as to who is covered and not covered by the plan

• Instead of paying out the benefit each year as compensation, the company can attach a vesting schedule to essentially put “golden handcuffs” on the key employee. If they leave the company prior to a stated date they lose the benefit.

• When awarding the shares or ownership the company can limit the award to just the appreciation of their shares or ownership percentage and not award the full current value of the ownership percentage. These are called “appreciation only” plans. Appreciation only phantom stock plans can be viewed as a favorable option to key employees because it does not require them to make a cash outlay to purchase their ownership interest as would normally be required by an actual equity or share purchase.

How do these plans work from an operation standpoint?  The ownership percentage or shares are issued to the employee as hypothetical units or “phantom units” that are just tracked internally by the company.   The employee is taxed on the benefit and the company can take the deduction for the compensation paid when there is no longer a “risk of forfeiture”. In other words, when the employee vests in the benefit whether they decide to “sell their phantom shares” or not.  As soon as the employee has the ability to “sell” their phantom interest in exchange for compensation that triggers the taxable event.

When designed correctly, these plans can be a valuable tool for small to mid-size companies in their efforts to retain key employees. 

About Michael……...

Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.