Investment Taxation
Any investor who wishes to invest profitably must understand the basic effects of taxation on investment returns. The very word “Taxation” to some, brings about very specific thoughts and emotions. For myself, if there were no definite structure or goals to my writing, I could easily spend a week convincing the reader of the evils of modern taxation. For your sake, I’ll save that for another day when I have no other brilliant ideas that will help you get ahead in life. It’s enough to know in the beginning that whether taxes are paid in the beginning, or end, the amount of tax taken from any gains will obviously affect investment returns and must be taken into consideration.
Tax Legislation
As a country, we’ve seen a few major pieces of tax legislation in the last few decades. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 eliminated many of the common write-off’s and tax shelters formerly used by investors to help protect their investments from taxation. At the same time, the legislation included a reduction in income tax rates with the top bracket Federal bracket being reduced to 28%. However, by 1997, that rate creeped back up to 39.7%. Under new leadership, we will hopefully see that coming down again soon.
The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 allowed for the creation of Roth IRA’s, College IRA’s (which later became 529 Plans) and many other tax rules specific to retirement plans. Even today, in 2017, the best investment vehicle for most workers is their company’s 401k plan. It should also come as no surprise that corporations with generous contribution matching are often able to recruit and retain the best employees.
Tax Treatment
With regard to tax treatment of both income and capital gains, gains are treated in several different ways depending on the type of investment:
- Tax Deferred– This describes an investment whose gains and accumulated earnings are not taxed until the owner takes possession of them… or “moves them across the tax fence”. This is the case with Traditional Individual Retirement Accounts, 401k Plans, Cash Value Life Insurance Policies, and Annuities.
- Tax Advantaged– This describes an investment whose investment methodology or underlying instruments are selected in such a way to reduce the tax responsibility of the owner. It may refer to an equity strategy that focuses on generating long-term capital gains over short term gains.
- Tax Free– Take a moment and say that aloud as you read it… “Tax Free”, doesn’t that just roll off your tongue? This refers to an investment without tax liability. This status is often granted to the interest generated by most municipal bonds and some other government instruments. Also, when used for qualifying expenses, the growth accumulated in your child’s 529 plan (College Savings Plan) is also tax free. Qualifying withdrawals from both a 529 plan and Roth IRA are tax free however, you will have already paid income tax on the contribution.
- Pretax– This simply means that the contribution made to the investment is able to be deducted from your tax return, or comes out of your check on a “Pretax Basis”. In some cases, such as 401k or Traditional IRA contributions, you’ll pay taxes on the full amount as earned income when you withdraw according to the rules of the plan. In other cases, you may never pay tax as in the case with certain healthcare plan deductions. The contribution does have the effect of lowering your Adjustable Gross Income. For instance, if you earn $120,000 and make an $8,000 contribution you’re your 401k plan, you will only be taxed on $112,000 of your income.
Other Considerations
While taxation is a significant factor in investment returns, it’s not the only factor. Does it make sense to buy a bond that yields 4% tax free instead of a common stock with a significant probability of 100% gains? I’ll just leave you hanging, because for some investors anything other than the 4% bond would cause severe discomfort. We’ll talk about risk tolerance on another occasion.