Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes
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Before you take any of these steps, understand whether you are subject to AMT or not. If subject to AMT, these ideas may not be useful. Since the new tax bill will steer most people into standard deduction, the goal here is to move some things from 2018 into 2017 and take advantage of it this year versus never getting to use it.
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Prepay your January mortgage payment in December. Make sure that you do it right so that the lender doesn’t think it is just another principal payment. This will allow you to move the mortgage interest from Jan into 2017.
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If you pay state taxes, use your tax software to estimate your taxes for 2017. Ensure that you have paid those taxes in 2017. This will allow deduction in 2017.
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Same thing with property taxes - if you have an early 2018 payment, pay it in 2017.
For some of these early payments, apply for some new credit cards - you still have time. Use these cards to prepay items #2/#3 and reach your spend requirements. Yes - you may be charged a 2.5% fee for paying by credit card - but the rewards from reaching minimum spend will offset the 2.5%. Also, most credit cards give you at least 1%. So you spend 1.5% extra, reach minimum spend, collect a nice reward and send a cut to me.
Do not try to pay your 2018 income tax in 2017 - that won’t work as per the new bill.
Consider getting rid of your mortgage. I am seriously evaluating that. Until now, since the mortgage interest was tax deductible, I wasn’t really paying much (after tax advantage). But now for all practical purposes, people with small mortgages won’t be able to deduct - so if your mortgage rate is 4%, you will be paying 4% with no tax benefit. By prepaying, think of it as investing money at 4% guaranteed tax free rate.
This stuff is lot more money than a free toothbrush or free redbox movie code. So prioritize this!
Additions since original post:
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For future, consider lumping of deductions. Example, pay 2018 property taxes/charitable in 2019 so that you take standard deduction in 2018 but itemized in 2019.
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For accelerating income/stock transactions, see the companion thread with heading, “Should you accelerate income/stock gains to 2017 due to tax changes?”.
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@principalmember said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
This stuff is lot more money than a free toothbrush or free redbox movie code.
Thanks to AMT, those freebies are actually worth something.
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BTW - mortgage interest is still deductible under AMT - so that would still have a nice value now versus next year and more than even a paid toothbrush.
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if your tax rate will be lower in 2018, then defer income if you can.
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Technically, there is a provision in the tax bill that precludes prepayment of next years state and local taxes (SALT) that would seem to eliminate #3 since SALT includes property taxes. This was something added in the Conference (i.e., wasn’t in the House or Senate bills). https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/18/prepaying-2018-state-income-taxes-is-blocked-in-gop-bill.html
However, in some states (at least) you can pay more estimated 2017 taxes today and carry over any overpayment to 2018 on your 2017 tax return. Technically, that wouldn’t seem to be a prepayment, rather an overpayment since when you make the payment you are designating it as payment of 2017 taxes (it is “with respect to 2017” when you make it). I live in NY and it appears that the NY tax form IT-201 has a line entry to carryover an overpayment to the following year, and you can pay estimated taxes online.
This may be worth the gamble – of course we don’t know what the 2018 Federal forms are going to say about implementing the prohibition on prepayments – typically these wouldn’t be taxed to you since you didn’t receive a “refund” (i.e., you are on a CASH basis and didn’t receive the cash back for your overpayment of 2017 tax).
Here’s the text from the Conference - note the bolded langauge:
The conference agreement also provides that, in the case of an amount paid in a taxable year beginning before January 1, 2018, with respect to a State or local income tax imposed for a taxable year beginning after December 31, 2017, the payment shall be treated as paid on the last day of the taxable year for which such tax is so imposed for purposes of applying the provision limiting the dollar amount of the deduction. Thus, under the provision, an individual may not claim an itemized deduction in 2017 on a prepayment of income tax for a future taxable year in order to avoid the dollar limitation applicable for taxable years beginning after 2017.
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with respect to a State or local income tax imposed for a taxable year beginning after December 31, 2017,
Doesn’t talk about property taxes. In my case, I receive property tax bill in Sep or something like that with 1st installment due in Dec and 2nd in April. I feel comfortable in paying off my April payment this year and claiming it on 2017 taxes.
However, in some states (at least) you can pay more estimated 2017 taxes today and carry over any overpayment to 2018 on your 2017 tax return. Technically, that wouldn’t seem to be a prepayment, rather an overpayment since when you make the payment you are designating it as payment of 2017 taxes (it is “with respect to 2017” when you make it). I live in NY and it appears that the NY tax form IT-201 has a line entry to carryover an overpayment to the following year, and you can pay estimated taxes online.
Really speaking that is a refund that you are electing not to be refunded. You will get a 1099-misc for that extra payment anyway. This is exactly what the “text from conference” that you highlighted is trying to preclude. They don’t want mega-millionaires to go pay all their 2018 state taxes on Dec 30th, 2017.
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@frugalpete said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
if your tax rate will be lower in 2018, then defer income if you can.
Good point. And if you are subject to AMT, don’t forget that for most practical purposes, AMT tax rate is 32.5% and not 28%.
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I was also looking at what happens to Capital Gains. I live in CA and I think I am still muddled on this one.
2017: High income, LT capital = 20%. But state tax deductible. Keeping numbers simple: State incremental 10%, deduct from federal at 30%. Net state payment = 7%. So total LT capital = 27%.
2018: Seems like they are dropping LT capital to be 15% for a much larger income bracket. So it would be 15% + 10% - so looks like I would be better off deferring LT capital to next year - save 2% and have extra year of float.
Anyways, still have time before the end of the year - hopefully Trump does sign it near 25th and then I have a few days to “not trade”.
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@principalmember said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
I was also looking at what happens to Capital Gains. I live in CA and I think I am still muddled on this one.
That’s because they have muddled it, as far as I’m concerned. Rather than going by whatever tax bracket applies to ordinary income, as has been the case for as long as I can remember, they have created a separate tax bracket structure for capital gains/qualified dividends.
“The conference agreement follows the House bill and generally retains present-law
maximum rates on net capital gains and qualified dividends.”Which is as follows:
“The provision generally retains the present-law maximum rates on net capital gain and
qualified dividends. The breakpoints between the zero- and 15-percent rates (“15-percent
breakpoint”) and the 15- and 20-percent rates (“20-percent breakpoint”) are based on the same
amounts as the breakpoints under present law, except the breakpoints are indexed using the CCPI-U
in taxable years beginning after 2017. Thus, for 2018, the 15-percent breakpoint is
$77,200 for joint returns and surviving spouses (one-half of this amount for married taxpayers
filing separately), $51,700 for heads of household, $2,600 for estates and trusts, and $38,600 for
other unmarried individuals. The 20-percent breakpoint is $479,000 for joint returns and surviving spouses (one-half of this amount for married taxpayers filing separately), $452,400 for
heads of household, $12,700 for estates and trusts, and $425,800 for other unmarried individuals.
Therefore, in the case of an individual (including an estate or trust) with adjusted net
capital gain, to the extent the gain would not result in taxable income exceeding the 15-percent
breakpoint, such gain is not taxed. Any adjusted net capital gain which would result in taxable
income exceeding the 15-percent breakpoint but not exceeding the 20-percent breakpoint is taxed
at 15 percent. The remaining adjusted net capital gain is taxed at 20 percent.”Source (pgs. 9, 10, 14):
https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/JointExplanatoryStatement121517.pdf
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Thank you gwraigty. I missed the part, "The conference agreement follows the House
bill and generally retains present-law maximum rates on net capital
gains and qualified dividends. " on page 14.(The reason I was muddled is because they tied the rates to 39.6 in the senate version and then the 39.6 rate disappeared).
What is a surprise is that Trump & company are not doing any favors for their rich buddies on the capital gains.
If the tax rates are the same, then being able to deduct the taxes on LT gains from state taxes this year definitely seems interesting to me. That would be step #4 to take this year. I will definitely be doing that for the call options that expire in Jan - i.e. I am going to be forced to take the capital gains - I just get to choose this year versus next year.
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@principalmember You’re welcome. It’s easy to miss something in a 500+ page explanation.
Yeah, if someone is on the fence about taking LTCG this year vs. next year, a comparison of what LTCG rate would apply right now vs. what rate would apply next year is in order.
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I’m in CA and haven’t followed the changes exactly. For property taxes and also mortgage deductions, are they limiting based on dollar amount or are they limiting it based on a % of income? What about Capital Gains taxes? Any changes to that since Trump got elected, my networth actually went up 75% from stock investments alone which gain over $1 Million from that time.
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@almighty1 said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
I’m in CA and haven’t followed the changes exactly. For property taxes and also mortgage deductions, are they limiting based on dollar amount or are they limiting it based on a % of income? What about Capital Gains taxes? Any changes to that since Trump got elected, my networth actually went up 75% from stock investments alone which gain over $1 Million from that time.
From pg. 78 of the document I linked to above:
“The conference agreement provides that, in the case of taxable years beginning after
December 31, 2017, and beginning before January 1, 2026, a taxpayer may treat no more than
$750,000 as acquisition indebtedness ($375,000 in the case of married taxpayers filing
separately). In the case of acquisition indebtedness incurred before December 15, 2017162 this
limitation is $1,000,000 ($500,000 in the case of married taxpayers filing separately).163 For
taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, a taxpayer may treat up to $1,000,000
($500,000 in the case of married taxpayers filing separately) of indebtedness as acquisition
indebtedness, regardless of when the indebtedness was incurred.
Additionally, the conference agreement suspends the deduction for interest on home
equity indebtedness. Thus, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, a taxpayer may
not claim a deduction for interest on home equity indebtedness. The suspension ends for taxable
years beginning after December 31, 2025.
Effective date.−The provision is effective for taxable years beginning after December 31,
2017.”The answer to your second question about capital gains taxes was already addressed in my post above with the link to the document. In short, the rates of 0%, 15%, and 20% are still in effect, but the brackets aren’t going to be based on the new ordinary income tax brackets as they have been for years.
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I am aware of the straddle rule with respect to vertical option spreads. Basically, you can’t book the losses for tax purposes if you close out the loss position. What about the gains? The rule says nothing about the gains.
What I am trying to do is book the gains this year and book the losses next year. [IRS /congress probably were always probably too happy to have somebody book the gains but the new tax laws create an interesting situation where booking the gains this year and paying state taxes on it this year robs IRS of some taxes next year]. I worked it out - I save about 4.5% by booking LT gains this year versus next year.
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@gwraigty - Thanks. What exactly does acquisition indebtedness mean? Also, is home equity the same as as a mortgage interest since I would have thought home equity would mean things like HELOC where the Home Equity is actually in the name of the product?
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@almighty1 said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
What exactly does acquisition indebtedness mean?
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Still a bit confused since I really am trying to find out what indebtedness means as it’s obvious one cannot deduct principle. So are they saying that there will no longer be form 1098’s?
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@almighty1 said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
So are they saying that there will no longer be form 1098’s?
I really have no idea. This issue doesn’t affect me. I’m not a professional tax person. Just thought I could help out a bit by linking to the official definition.
From page 76 of the document I linked to above:
Acquisition indebtedness
Acquisition indebtedness is indebtedness that is incurred in acquiring, constructing, or
substantially improving a qualified residence of the taxpayer and which secures the residence.
The maximum amount treated as acquisition indebtedness is $1 million ($500,000 in the case of
a married person filing a separate return).
Acquisition indebtedness also includes indebtedness from the refinancing of other
acquisition indebtedness but only to the extent of the amount (and term) of the refinanced
indebtedness. Thus, for example, if the taxpayer incurs $200,000 of acquisition indebtedness to
acquire a principal residence and pays down the debt to $150,000, the taxpayer’s acquisition
indebtedness with respect to the residence cannot thereafter be increased above $150,000 (except
by indebtedness incurred to substantially improve the residence).From page 78:
Conference Agreement
The conference agreement provides that, in the case of taxable years beginning after
December 31, 2017, and beginning before January 1, 2026, a taxpayer may treat no more than
$750,000 as acquisition indebtedness ($375,000 in the case of married taxpayers filing
separately). In the case of acquisition indebtedness incurred before December 15, 2017162 this
limitation is $1,000,000 ($500,000 in the case of married taxpayers filing separately).163 For
taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, a taxpayer may treat up to $1,000,000
($500,000 in the case of married taxpayers filing separately) of indebtedness as acquisition
indebtedness, regardless of when the indebtedness was incurred.
Additionally, the conference agreement suspends the deduction for interest on home
equity indebtedness. Thus, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, a taxpayer may
not claim a deduction for interest on home equity indebtedness. The suspension ends for taxable
years beginning after December 31, 2025.
Effective date.−The provision is effective for taxable years beginning after December 31,
2017.Here’s a Forbes article that might help:
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@almighty1 said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
Still a bit confused since I really am trying to find out what indebtedness means as it’s obvious one cannot deduct principle. So are they saying that there will no longer be form 1098’s?
You would be able to still deduct mortgage interest. But not for 2nd home, not for home equity loans. Also, going forward, for new mortgages, if your loan is more than 750K, then only the interest on the 750K would be deductible.
Rough numbers: for married, assuming that you max out property+locai income taxes at 10K, since standard deduction is 24K, first 14K of mortgage interest would give you no benefit. Assuming a 4% mortgage interest rate, if your mortgage is less than 350K, itemization won’t give you any benefit. Only if your mortgage is between 350K-750K, will you get some benefit from mortgage interest indebtedness or whatever fancy word is being used.
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Actually, how accurate is what CNBC is saying in this link:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/19/5-deductions-taxpayers-will-miss-the-most-in-the-tax-bill.html
It seems like only property taxes would be a bigger concern and there are still ways around it as in my case, both me and my mom are JTWROS so if there was $12k in property taxes, all one has to do is shift the property taxes so whatever is left over is deducted by the other person.
As far as mortgages is concerned:
"Mortgage interest
Starting in 2018, homeowners can take a mortgage interest deduction on a loan of up to $750,000, down from the current law’s limit of $1 million.“If you have a mortgage of $800,000, you can deduct [interest] on the first $750,000,” said Nicole M. Kaeding, an economist at the Tax Foundation.
Individuals who take out home equity loans will no longer be able to deduct that interest under the new bill."
so I was right about only Home Equity Line of Credit or anything with the word “Home Equity” in the name of the loan will just not be deductible. So mortgage interest deduction is still allowed, just you can deduct interest up to $750k worth of principle instead of $1 Million and using the same trick as above, one can shift the remaining part to the other person. And it doesn’t effect me because my loan as a new mortgage was $487,200 and now it’s $400,000.
Besides, just use the same trick the rich uses. Deduct everything 100% as a business being a LLC or as a sole proprietor without the limits.
So I was really asking for a example rather as using acquisition indebtedness is confusing. This is almost like reading legal documents as all it really says is the you can only deduct the first $750k of the loan amount so only people who have loans exceeding $750k would need to worry for margin interest since they can’t deduct the rest but if they can afford a $750k loan and meet the requirements for the Debt to Income ratio for it, that $250k that they can no longer deduct probably means nothing to them as the rich can just either have it paid from the business side and then deduct 100% of it.
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Regarding Mortgage Interest with the $10K SALT cap, I live in CA and I’m seriously considering prepaying multiple payments, which seems extreme to me and I’m wondering if others out there also has this option.
It’s common to see many out there advising paying your January payment early (next week) to realize the extra interest deduction in 2017. In my case, I noticed that my loan servicer provides the option of submitting up to five months of payments in advance which (in theory) should give me the option of realizing the interest deduction value in 2017 for my January through May of next year. I called their customer service and confirmed that these ‘extra’ payments would push back my next loan due date to 6/1/2018 and not just be credited as additional principal payment.
It’s a good chunk of change and it seems like a lot can go wrong, is anyone else from high-tax states able to and/or considering paying multiple 2018 mortgage payments this year?
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This post is deleted!
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It’s common to see many out there advising paying your January payment early (next week) to realize the extra interest deduction in 2017.
People don’t know what the hell they are doing. Only the January payment will count towards the interest for 2017. The January payment represents interest for Dec and hence it is legit to do that. At the end of the day, you don’t control generating the “mortgage interest statement” - your bank does.
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@adolfin - I thought Mortgage Interest was not part of the $10k SALT cap while Property Tax was.
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@principalmember said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
It’s common to see many out there advising paying your January payment early (next week) to realize the extra interest deduction in 2017.
People don’t know what the hell they are doing. Only the January payment will count towards the interest for 2017. The January payment represents interest for Dec and hence it is legit to do that. At the end of the day, you don’t control generating the “mortgage interest statement” - your bank does.
Exactly, the one who generates and reports the 1098 to the IRS is the one who determines that and the amount.
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Even if the 1098 shows the extra mortgage payment in the 2017 year, what is the benefit? Isn’t mortgage interest still deductible in 2018?
Can someone explain where the saving comes from?Are people trying to get the deduction this year because their tax rate will be lower next year?
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Since most people will see a drop in their highest marginal rate in 2018, how does this strategy sound:
You overpay your 2017 state taxes by a huge amount, say $10,000. You deduct this from your 2017 federal tax bill at the high tax rate that you are currently paying.
In 3 months, you get that money back in your state refund. When you file your 2018 return, this will be taxable income. But you pay the lower 2018 rate at that time.Do you see this working?
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@sredni said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
Even if the 1098 shows the extra mortgage payment in the 2017 year, what is the benefit? Isn’t mortgage interest still deductible in 2018?
Can someone explain where the saving comes from?Are people trying to get the deduction this year because their tax rate will be lower next year?
In my case, with the increased 24K standard exemption and 10K cap on SALT, I will be forced to take the standard deduction. So by moving it to this year, I get some benefit versus none next year.
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@sredni said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
Since most people will see a drop in their highest marginal rate in 2018, how does this strategy sound:
You overpay your 2017 state taxes by a huge amount, say $10,000. You deduct this from your 2017 federal tax bill at the high tax rate that you are currently paying.
In 3 months, you get that money back in your state refund. When you file your 2018 return, this will be taxable income. But you pay the lower 2018 rate at that time.Do you see this working?
Yes - it will work. But when I have prepaid my taxes in the past, I remember some IRS wording about not trying to overpay too much to game the system. So can’t tell if they will go after enforcing what they said in their doc.
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@principalmember
Thanks for the answers and a big thank you for posting tip no. 3 in the original post.I have high property taxes and my county does allow me to pay one installment early. That’s going to save me more $1500.
I won’t have thought of doing this if I hadn’t chanced upon this thread.
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It looks like my ordinary income rate will increase,
long term capital gain rate will decrease. Therefore, I’m taking STCG this weekand LTCG next week.
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@c3 said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
It looks like my ordinary income rate will increase, and long term capital gain rate will decrease. Therefore, I’m taking STCG this week and LTCG next week.
Aha - I thought you were chasing free toothbrushes. Anyways, I created a new thread - “Should you accelerate income/stock gains to 2017 due to tax changes?” - you may want to read that.
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Added to my original post about lumping and referenced other thread about income acceleration.
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Question about #2. We live in MA and used Turbotax 2016 last year, have roughly the same income this year. Do I look at my MA tax return summary and look at “Total Tax” for this amount? Or would I need to plug in our numbers into Turbotax 2017?
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For number 2, can I use this to estimate state income tax (MA)?
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@matrix5k said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
Question about #2. We live in MA and used Turbotax 2016 last year, have roughly the same income this year. Do I look at my MA tax return summary and look at “Total Tax” for this amount? Or would I need to plug in our numbers into Turbotax 2017?
That should be good enough unless the MA tax laws changed drastically. You may end up paying slightly extra but that is fine - will come back next year at hopefully lower tax bracket. And if you don’t mind extra work, use your MA site to correlate and verify your TurboTax16 calculation.
I had bought TaxCut2017 for this specific purpose - to be more exact in my calculation - but those morons won’t have the state tax update until Jan 5.
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Thanks. We paid about 13k to MA last year, that’s a big chunk of change for us. I want to make sure I’m doing this right?
- Pay MA 13k before Dec ends.
- File 2017 taxes in Jan.
- Get refund for around 13k back from MA (the taxes were already withheld from our paychecks)?
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@matrix5k said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
Thanks. We paid about 13k to MA last year, that’s a big chunk of change for us. I want to make sure I’m doing this right?
- Pay MA 13k before Dec ends.
- File 2017 taxes in Jan.
- Get refund for around 13k back from MA (the taxes were already withheld from our paychecks)?
I think you are doing this wrong. Let us say that you got paid $120K and your total MA taxes were 13K. Taxes withheld from paycheck - let us say is 11K. When you put these numbers in the tax software, it would say that you would owe 2K for 2017. This is what you pay to MA before the end of the year. Not the 13K number but the shortfall that you have from the actual obligations.
And if you were not subject to AMT, what you would be saving is the federal taxes on this 2K - i.e. you pay it this year, you can deduct. You pay it next year, there is no deduction.
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@principalmember
Oh okay maybe I’ll just leave the income tax prepayment alone since I don’t understand it. We got a $94 refund from MA last year so we may not even owe this year. At least I figured out the property tax prepayment.
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i’m still trying to figure out if my family would benefit from prepaying property taxes, but i have a preliminary question: my mortgage bank pays my taxes through an escrow account. is there an easy way to inform them, if i make the 2d 2017 tax payment myself?
of course, it’d be nice if i can get them to hold less in escrow, so that more of my payments go to paying down the debt, but i can only hope for so much.
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@crabbing said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
i’m still trying to figure out if my family would benefit from prepaying property taxes, but i have a preliminary question: my mortgage bank pays my taxes through an escrow account. is there an easy way to inform them, if i make the 2d 2017 tax payment myself?
of course, it’d be nice if i can get them to hold less in escrow, so that more of my payments go to paying down the debt, but i can only hope for so much.
Can you pay 2018 property taxes by end of 2017? Looks like I might not be able to take advantage of this. According to new IRS guidelines, county suppose to complete tax assessments. My county is going to do assessments in April/May time frame.My other option is to club 2 years of property tax payments into one year and switch to standard deduction other year.
My property taxes are paid for 2017 by escrow account holder during last week. They typically pay up by end of year. You can check it in your escrow account.
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@ritholtz My accountant sent out an email saying we should try to ask escrow company to pay early. Call the escrow company and ask them to accelerate the payment to the Town/City. If the escrow company will not accelerate the payment you can make the payment directly to the Town/City.
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@ritholtz, i believe my prop tax is split into 2 payments, one in november and one in april. both are for taxes assessed in 2017. i think the whole point of this prepay issue is that people are looking at whether making the second payment before 2018, they get the full benefit for prop tax payments that they might not get with the new tax law.
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@my4mainecoons
Ok. I checked my escrow statement online. They deducted property tax payment from my balance last week. If it is not done by now, they might not be able to make it by end of year.
You can also do a payment, inform and get a refund from escrow account. I typically pay my insurance premiums and get a refund from my escrow account. I also made payment to my December month mortgage which is due by 1st Jan.
My idea is to pay 2018 and 2019 property tax payments in 2019 and use standard deduction for year 2018 taxes. Not sure how much it will help. Every bit helps.
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@ritholtz said in Steps to take in 2017 for the upcoming tax changes:
@my4mainecoons
Ok. I checked my escrow statement online. They deducted property tax payment from my balance last week. If it is not done by now, they might not be able to make it by end of year.
You can also do a payment, inform and get a refund from escrow account. I typically pay my insurance premiums and get a refund from my escrow account. I also made payment to my December month mortgage which is due by 1st Jan.
My idea is to pay 2018 and 2019 property tax payments in 2019 and use standard deduction for year 2018 taxes. Not sure how much it will help. Every bit helps.Legally, you can only prepay taxes that have been billed and due early next year. Don’t try to prepay future taxes - IRS has a ruling out on the topic that disallows future speculative payments.
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Don’t forget to send a note to your senator/congressman congratulating them for doing something and not hiding from their own shadow.
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My tax advisor said that since I’m subject to AMT, it will do me no good to prepay the property tax.
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IRS says many who prepaid property taxes may still face cap on deductions
Not surprised - those were kind of the rules before and IRS and is just clarifying the rules. Even before this hysteria started, you were always allowed to fudge on the payment for a bill received - e.g. pay billed 2018 property tax in 2017, pay spring semester tuition in Dec, early payment of Jan mortgage. All this existed before and was all kosher.
It is amazing to see how many people (including people with 500K income) have absolutely no clue about the tax system and they are leaping to do stupid things/following their neighbors and friends like lemmings and then asking questions. I had one person asking me if he should be prepaying the property taxes when he is squarely in the AMT region and he had already paid it. And then there are people who want to pay mortgage for the next 3 years.
