The Truth About The Market Sell-Off Effect On Your Taxes
Whether it is panic selling, hiding out in cash, or trading frantically during volatile markets, investors tend to make several mistakes that can hurt them long-term.
As troubling as market sell-offs can be, at least one feature often feels familiar, the effort to convince investors to avoid the serious investing mistakes that come from short-term thinking during a sell-off. If this recent volatility, has you rushing to get your money out of the stock market, be careful. Dumping stocks from your portfolio could create a big tax bill if you’re not cautious.
Our experienced Accountants and Bookkeepers understand the complexities of the financial world. That's why we want to help you navigate the recent market sell-off and understand its impact on your taxes.
If you’re invested for the long term, simply do nothing, and know that declines are a normal part of investing. But if you decide to sell shares that have gains, you are taking “capital gains.” Such gains are taxable. If these are short-term gains, i.e. you held stocks for less than 365 days, these gains are taxed at your ordinary-income rate. If you owned the shares for more than a year before you sold them, you have a long-term capital gain that’s taxed at a different (usually lower) rate: 0%, 15%, or 20%, depending on your income bracket for that year.
Keep in mind that you may have to pay state capital-gains taxes as well. Although It’s always smart to think about the tax effects of your financial decisions, never let tax avoidance become a substitute for wise investing decisions. Sell a stock only if it truly doesn’t work for you.
1. Do it in a tax-deferred account
If you want to reduce your exposure to the stock market, think about selling shares you might be holding inside your 401(k), IRA, or similar retirement vehicle. These retirement accounts are tax-deferred, which means whatever happens while the money is in that vehicle, it is not taxable until you decide to take money out of it. Only then do you start paying taxes. That means if you sell an investment within a tax-advantaged retirement account, you won’t be subject to paying capital gains taxes like you would in a taxable brokerage/individual account.
2. Sell the old stuff first
Since the tax on short-term capital gains is higher than the tax on long-term capital gains, look at how long you’ve owned the shares when you’re deciding who stays and who goes.
3. Sell some of your losers too
You may be able to offset some of your already realized gains by realizing some losses. This is called tax-loss harvesting. If you’ve lost money on one investment, you can sell another one at a profit and basically avoid capital gains.
However, please note that tax-loss harvesting has its limit. As your losses exceed your gains, you can deduct the difference on your tax return up to $3,000 per year ($1,500 for married filing separately). If you have more than $3,000 of realized losses this year, you can deduct up to $3,000 next year and keep deducting $3,000 per year going forward till you deduct all your realized losses.
4. Convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA
When the value of your stocks plunges due to a market sell-off, you can take advantage of that by converting some or all of your current IRA to Roth IRA. This will effectively grow that part of your retirement savings that is in your Roth IRA account tax-free going forward. This, of course, comes with a cost, which is, reporting the converted amount as income and paying its applicable income tax this current year.
Depending on your specific situation and income bracket, this may be a good strategy for comparing long-term benefits to short-term costs. As always, consult with your tax advisor/financial planner before you take any action.
If you are looking for an accounting firm in Long Beach, CA, reach out to us at Logica Accounting Services. We have been helping businesses for many years to keep their money and lower their tax bills using legal methods and strategies. Our personalized bookkeeping services focus on reducing our clients’ accounting expenses by helping them with their finance management, tax preparation, and invoice processing needs.
Looking for expert financial services in California? You have come to the right place. Our experienced accountants and bookkeepers offer a wide range of financial services including Accounting, bookkeeping, Payroll, Sales Tax Services, QuickBooks Online/ Desktop, Tax Preparation Services, Consultations/ Advisory, Budgeting, and Forecasting services to help keep your business running smoothly. We're proud to serve clients across Lancaster, Oceanside, Temecula, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, Ventura, Long Beach, Irvine, Anaheim, Santa Monica, Burbank, Palmdale, Victorville, Hesperia, Oxnard, Riverside, Whittier, South Whittier, Cerritos, Cypress, Seal Beach, Buena Park, Fullerton, Los Alamitos, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Orange, Lakewood, Carson, Norwalk, Downey, Torrance, Gardena, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, San Clemente, California, and the surrounding areas.
To learn more about the services we offer, please click here. To get in touch with us, please click here.