Tuesday, April 04, 2006

When should you just pay your Capital Gains Tax?

Every day I talk to people who will owe capital gains tax when they sell their asset. It may be a rental property, a stock portfolio, a business, a collectible, etc. They all want to know if there is another option for them rather than writing a check directly on sale to the IRS for the capital gains tax due.

Sometimes, as much as I'd like to help, the only true option is to pay the tax. Now when you hear this, the first reaction is denial. There must be something, right?

If the debt is too high, or the profits too low, it doesn't make sense to pay the fees involved to set up and maintain a trust, and the 1031/TIC option may be out due to not reaching minimum investment level.

If the asset has already by sold and money and title have changed hands, a taxable event has already happened. There are no more options.

About the only way to know if you should just pay your capital gains tax is to have an analysis done and see if there is a better way. At SaveGainsTax you can get started and find out for yourself. The qualification questionnaire is simple to fill out and the response is confidential and timely.

To pay or not to pay will be up to you. Just don't dismiss an option because you aren't familiar with it. Take the time to do a bit of research. Interview with the Pros will save you hundreds of hours of time. The payoff will be well worth it for years to come.

Paula Straub
http://www.savegainstax.com
askpaula@savegainstax.com