12 Ways To Beat Capital Gains Tax In The Age Of Trump
Got capital gains? Don’t fret. Under the Trump tax overhaul, effective as of tax year 2018, most of the old tricks to avoid or reduce the capital gains tax bite on sales of appreciated assets still work, albeit with tweaks. “The zero-percent capital gains rate is a terrible thing to waste,” says Timothy Wyman, a certified financial planner in Southfield, Michigan.
But what’s really got wealth advisors and their rich clients excited is a powerful new triple-tax-efficient play, investing in low-income neighborhoods designated as opportunity zones. “It’s a big one,” says Jayson Morgan, a tax partner at Marcum in Irvine, California.
Here are 12 planning ideas. We’re talking about long-term capital gains, that is net profits on investments held more than a year. Short-term gains are taxed at ordinary income tax rates. If you’ve got gains, you’ll likely want to choose more than one strategy.
Opportunity Zones.Investors in “opportunity zones” (via a fund that directs investments in real estate or companies located there) get temporary deferral of accumulated capital gains, up to a 15% basis step-up on capital gains invested, and here’s the kicker—a capital gains bill of zero on new gains for investments held 10 years. The IRS just announced the final round of Opportunity Zones.