Tax Year

  

Categories: Tax

"Over what period of time are we taxing your operating profits, Mr. Corporation?" That's the tax year. And in almost everywhereland, a tax year runs from January 1 to December 31. That's the year in which profits are assessed for tax purposes. They are then paid n months later. And yes, many or most corporations and individuals pay taxes quarterly, and then "true up" the amount they owe at the end of the year.

Some companies, though, run from Valentine's Day to February 13. Why? A romantic view of...taxes? Others run from July 1 to June 30. Why? Eh, maybe because they're in industries which are just very quiet that time of the year (winter coat sales?) and they like making life difficult for everyone else.

And it's not a bad idea to have an off-calendar-year tax year. Think about the poor accountants who have everyone yelling at them the same week to finish their taxes. Were things staggered, it'd be way better throughout for those people leading lives a lot like James Bond's. Or actually, just the opposite.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What is Tax Basis?8 Views

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Finance allah shmoop What is tax basis Well your basis

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is your cost Your costs for assessing how much you

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owe when the tax man coming you bought a thousand

00:16

shares of whatever dot com at twelve bucks a share

00:19

in its eye po and huzzah Three years later the

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stock is at thirty You decide whatever dot com is

00:26

now passe because a kardashians said so it'll be over

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taken by whenever dot com and you want to sell

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So you dio and you live in a thirty percent

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marginal tax blue state And that is your federal tax

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rates in twenty percent But then you add in ten

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percent for state taxes and whatever's left for obamacare and

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you pay about thirty percent tax on your gains Well

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you paid twelve grand to buy the stock and after

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the sale you took in thirty grand when you sold

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it for a gain of eighteen thousand dollars Your tax

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basis on those shares is twelve grand so you pay

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thirty percent tax on the eighteen grand of gain or

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fifty four hundred dollars to net from the sale of

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thirty thousand dollars worth of stock How much Yeah twenty

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Four thousand six hundred dollars He fancy math Had you

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just gotten those shares free I'ii they were gifted to

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you and you had no tax basis or a tax

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basis of zero dollars a share Well then your gain

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would have been from zero to thirty grand or a

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gain of thirty thousand dollars to then be taxed at

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thirty percent or nine grand in taxes to net just

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twenty one thousand dollars after the sale So having ah

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high tax basis or at least being able teo point

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toe one saves you money when the tax man coming

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and well that's pretty much it alright he's gone Now

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you can all come out Come on it's Okay it's 00:01:53.698 --> [endTime] safe

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