As a student, your tax liability is the lowest it will ever be. Take advantage of all the tax credits you may be eligible for, such as the Lifetime Learning Credit. Since many students end up qualifying for tax refunds, be sure to file early. Otherwise, taxes shouldn’t be a big concern for you. Focus on your studies and think about the dental career you envision for yourself. It’s never too early to work with a professional dental CPA – contact us today.

Students loans are a good investment on a great career and shouldn’t be a cause for alarm, so there’s no need to rush to pay them off. The tax code allows you to deduct the interest on your student loan up to the maximum allowed. You can make your loans more manageable by consolidating them and signing up for income-base repayments. Only refinance when it makes sense financially. Want to learn more? Contact Engage Advisors today.

When banks are approving a loan to buy a practice, they like to see liquidity, in other words, cash on hand. Keeping your tax burden down will make it easier to build up the kind of savings that will lead a bank to green light your loan. If you’re a dental associate who receives a W2, you can lower your tax bill by taking advantage of tax reducing opportunities that are often overlooked, such as deducting costs related to job hunting, or claiming tax credits for childcare. If you’re working as a contractor, you’re eligible for even more tax deductions for things like home office expenses, costs for phone service, mileage, healthcare, and even fees for accounting services. As you move towards your goal, every little bit of liquidity helps bring you closer to your goal of buying a practice. Contact our team to learn more about how we can help you become a dental practice owner.

As a dental practice owner, you have many tax opportunities that can lower your liabilities including:

• Tax-Deferred Retirement Plans – Only one-quarter of dentists max out all the retirement account options available to them. Every dollar you put into a tax-deferred retirement account is a dollar that won’t be taxed this year.
• Health Care – Your health insurance premiums could be a deductible business expense, as are the contributions to a Health Savings Account used for co-pays and deductibles.
• Family Business: Employing your spouse and children could allow income to be taxed at a lower rate and allow your spouse to contribute to social security and/or retirement savings plan while giving you a tax deduction.
• Qualified Business Income Deduction (QBID) for Rental Property – Dentists who have active rental property or own their practice building may take up to 20% of the rental income as a deduction on their taxes.
• Countless Opportunities: At Engage Advisors, we work with dentists to make their dental practices profitable. Contact us to learn more.

We help dental practice owners stay on top of tax code changes that impact retirement planning for themselves as well as retirement benefits offered to employees. The last few years have brought a number of changes to the tax code.

• Retirements Savings Adjusted for Inflation – Higher inflation rates led Congress to increase retirement plan limits.
• Secure Act 2.0 – The original Secure Act was passed to improve retirement-savings opportunities for Americans and the latest version contains 92 new provisions intended to promote savings, boost incentives for businesses, and offer more flexibility to individuals saving for retirement. It also includes a Catch-Up provision for dental professionals aged 50 and older.
• Practice Owners Must Offer More Roth Options – You can still convert funds from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA using the back-door approach. However, if you own a practice and offer a retirement plan to employees, you’ll need to have a Roth option for any employees (aged 50 and older) who want to make catch-up contributions.
• Financial Planning for Dentists – Engage Advisors also provides financial planning for dentists. We work with dentists throughout their life and career stages. Contact us to learn more today.