Estate and Trust Tax Preparation:
​Effective estate and trust planning can ensure financial security for loved ones. For businesses, it can maintain a smooth succession of ownership. Stotler & Young's role is to help you navigate the complex and shifting tax laws to facilitate the transfer of assets and minimize the tax liability of your beneficiaries. Everyone should have a well thought out plan as to how to disburse one's estate so as to avoid complications and to be sure wishes are followed. Having your taxes and estate thoroughly and carefully planned will ensure that your loved ones don't have any complications to deal with during a time of loss

SERVICES

Estate Planning:
Estate planning on your own can be complicated and costly. And the list is endless... state taxes, bureaucracy, probate courts, unfair appraisals, health care concerns, eligibility of heirs, life insurance, IRA's, 401K's, annuities, burial or cremation costs, and intent regarding death-postponing treatment to name a few. Not knowing your legal and financial rights often ends up costing you more in the end. Thoughts of estate planning often bring more questions than answers: Could an heir be too young to inherit? Should the inheritance be given at a certain age? Is the intended beneficiary in a shaky marriage with divorce as a possibility? Are there children from a previous marriage? Should inheritance be protected from potential creditors of the heir? Are there taxes that can be avoided? Are you able to avoid the probate court rules, delays, and costs?

Planning what happens to your estate when you're gone can seem frustrating and intimidating without qualified help.

​You may feel that you're too young to care about estate planning. Or, perhaps the reminder of death makes you uncomfortable. You might be tempted to put the whole thing off, assuming that it will just take care of itself. In all cases, estate planning ends up saving your family lots of time, heartache and money. And we can help!

​Every estate planning situation is different. In order to help you, we want to know you, your unique situation, and the nature of your relationships. We offer discussion, recommendations and useful research tools to make your planning simple, efficient, and worry-free. We are available throughout the process for further discussion regarding questions, change of circumstances, and alternatives. At every step, we'll be there with you.


Retirement Planning & Options


According to the US Small Business Administration, small businesses employ half of all private sector employees in the United States. However, a majority of small businesses do not offer their workers retirement savings benefits.

If you're like many other small business owners in the United States, you may be considering the various retirement plan options available for your company. Employer-sponsored retirement plans have become a key component for retirement savings. They are also an increasingly important tool for attracting and retaining the high-quality employees you need to compete in today's competitive environment.

Besides helping employees save for the future, however, instituting a retirement plan can provide you, as the employer, with benefits that enable you to make the most of your business's assets. Such benefits include:

  • Tax-deferred growth on earnings within the plan
  • Current tax savings on individual contributions to the plan
  • Immediate tax deductions for employer contributions
  • Easy to establish and maintain
  • Low-cost benefit with a highly-perceived value by your employees

Types of Plans:

Stotler & Young, PC will help you navigate the complex world of retirement planning.  We can discuss several types of retirement plans with you, and their respective tax benefits. Most private sector retirement plans are either defined benefit plans or defined contribution plans. Defined benefit plans are designed to provide a desired retirement benefit for each participant. This type of plan can allow for a rapid accumulation of assets over a short period of time. The required contribution is actuarially determined each year, based on factors such as age, years of employment, the desired retirement benefit, and the value of plan assets. Contributions are generally required each year and can vary widely.

A defined contribution plan, on the other hand, does not promise a specific amount of benefit at retirement. In these plans, employees or their employer (or both) contribute to employees' individual accounts under the plan, sometimes at a set rate (such as 5 percent of salary annually). A 401(k) plan is one type of defined contribution plan. Other types of defined contribution plans include profit-sharing plans, money purchase plans, and employee stock ownership plans.

Small businesses may choose to offer a defined benefit plan or any of these defined contribution plans. Many financial institutions and pension practitioners make available both defined benefit and defined contribution "prototype" plans that have been pre approved by the IRS. When such a plan meets the requirements of the tax code it is said to be qualified and will receive four significant tax benefits.

  1. The income generated by the plan assets is not subject to income tax, because the income is earned and managed within the framework of a tax-exempt trust.
  2. An employer is entitled to a current tax deduction for contributions to the plan.
  3. The plan participants (the employees or their beneficiaries) do not have to pay income tax on the amounts contributed on their behalf until the year the funds are distributed to them by the employer.
  4. Under the right circumstances, beneficiaries of qualified plan distributors are afforded special tax treatment.

It is necessary to note that all retirement plans have important tax, business and other implications for employers and employees. Therefore, you should discuss any retirement savings plan that you consider implementing with your accountant or other financial advisor.

Here's a brief look at some plans that can help you and your employees save.

SIMPLE: Savings Incentive Match Plan

A SIMPLE IRA plan allows employees to contribute a percentage of their salary each paycheck and to have their employer match their contribution. Under SIMPLE IRA plans, employees can set aside up to $12,000 in 2014(same as 2013) by payroll deduction. If the employee is 50 or older then they may contribute an additional $2,500. Employers can either match employee contributions dollar for dollar - up to 3 percent of an employee's wage - or make a fixed contribution of 2 percent of pay for all eligible employees instead of a matching contribution.

SIMPLE IRA plans are easy to set up by filling out a short form. Administrative costs are low and much of the paperwork is done by the financial institution that handles the SIMPLE IRA plan accounts. Employers may choose either to permit employees to select the IRA to which their contributions will be sent, or to send contributions for all employees to one financial institution. Employees are 100 percent vested in contributions, get to decide how and where the money will be invested, and keep their IRA accounts even when they change jobs.

SEP: Simplified Employee Pension Plan

A SEP plan allows employers to set up a type of individual retirement account - known as a SEP-IRA - for themselves and their employees. Employers must contribute a uniform percentage of pay for each employee. Employer contributions are limited to whichever is less: 25 percent of an employee's annual salary or $52,000 in 2014 ($51,000 in 2013). SEP plans can be started by most employers, including those that are self-employed.

SEP plans have low start-up and operating costs and can be established using a single quarter-page form. Businesses are not locked into making contributions every year. You can decide how much to put into a SEP each year - offering you some flexibility when business conditions vary.

401(k) Plans

401(k) plans have become a widely accepted savings vehicle for small businesses and allows employees to contribute a portion of their own incomes toward their retirement. The employee contributions, not to exceed $17,500 in 2014 (same as 2013), reduce a participant's pay before income taxes, so that pre-tax dollars are invested. If the employee is 50 or older then they may contribute another $5,500 in 2014 (same as 2013). Employers may offer to match a certain percentage of the employee's contribution, increasing participation in the plan.

While more complex, 401(k)plans offer higher contribution limits than SIMPLE IRA plans and IRAs, allowing employees to accumulate greater savings.

Profit-Sharing Plans

Employers also may make profit-sharing contributions to plans that are unrelated to any amounts an employee chooses to contribute. Profit-sharing Plans are well suited for businesses with uncertain or fluctuating profits. In addition to the flexibility in deciding the amounts of the contributions, a Profit-Sharing Plan can include options such as service requirements, vesting schedules and plan loans that are not available under SEP plans.

Contributions may range from 0 to 25 percent of eligible employees' compensation, to a maximum of $52,000 in 2014 ($51,000 in 2013) per employee. The contribution in any one year cannot exceed 25 percent of the total compensation of the employees participating in the plan. Contributions need not be the same percentage for all employees. Key employees may actually get as much as 25 percent, while others may get as little as 3 percent. A plan may combine these profit-sharing contributions with 401(k) contributions (and matching contributions).

Your Goals for a Retirement Plan

Business owners setup retirement plans for different reasons. Why are you considering one? Do you want to:

  • Take advantage of the tax breaks, to save more money than you'd otherwise be able to?
  • Provide competitive benefits in addition to - or in lieu of - high pay to employees?
  • Primarily save for your own retirement?

You might say "all of the above." Small employers who want to set up retirement plans generally fall into one of two groups. The first group includes those who want to set up a retirement plan primarily because they want to create a tax-advantage savings vehicle for themselves and thus want to allocate the greatest possible part of the contribution to the owners. The second group includes those who just want a low-cost, simple retirement plan for employees.

If there were one plan that was most efficient in doing all these things, there wouldn't be so many choices. That's why it's so important to know what your goal is. Each type of plan has different advantages and disadvantages, and you can't really pick the best ones unless you know what your real purpose is in offering a plan. Once you have an idea of what your motives are, you're in a better position to weigh the alternatives and make the right pension choice.

If you do decide that you want to offer a retirement plan, you are definitely going to need some professional advice and guidance. Pension rules are complex, and the tax aspects of retirement plans can also be confusing. Make sure you confer with your accountant before deciding which plan is right for you and your employees.