any accountants out there that i can ask a question?

[Definitions2]

donate appreciated shares to charity and keep the cash you were going to donate

Can you ELI5. How does donating your stocks help? Don't you lose everything then?

What cash is there in this situation?

[ushdadude]

Can you ELI5. How does donating your stocks help? Don't you lose everything then?

What cash is there in this situation?

This strategy works with the assumption that he would be donating money to charity regardless. So instead of donating cash, donate appreciated shares and keep the cash you planned on donating.

[ckmk47]

Can you ELI5. How does donating your stocks help? Don't you lose everything then?

What cash is there in this situation?

This strategy works with the assumption that he would be donating money to charity regardless. So instead of donating cash, donate appreciated shares and keep the cash you planned on donating.

The donation value for tax purposes is the current value, yet you paid less, so your gains are tax free.
This is only good up to the amount you would have donated anyway.  After that, you're losing principal.

[Help]

Can you ELI5. How does donating your stocks help? Don't you lose everything then?

What cash is there in this situation?

Say you bought 100 shares of XYZ stock for $50 per share (total cost: $5,000). The stock has now appreciated to $100 per share (total value: $10,000). If you sell the stock, you'll have a gain of $5,000 ($10,000 - $5,000) and potentially pay capital gains tax on that amount, say 20%. You are now left with $9,000.

If you usually give $10,000 to charity, the better option would be to donate the 100 shares directly to charity.

If you donate the stock directly to a charity, you'll get a tax deduction for the full fair market value (FMV) of $10,000, without paying tax on the gain. (People save millions this way!)

Of course, this only makes sense in cases where you were planning to give 10,000 to charity regardless. Otherwise you’re spending $1 to save $0.37. Don’t do it!

(The number of people that don’t seem to get this is staggering. Never spend on crap you don’t need just to save on taxes! Congrats, You’re now poorer but at least you didn’t pay taxes 🙄)

[Help]

Say you bought 100 shares of XYZ stock for $50 per share (total cost: $5,000). The stock has now appreciated to $100 per share (total value: $10,000). If you sell the stock, you'll have a gain of $5,000 ($10,000 - $5,000) and potentially pay capital gains tax on that amount, say 20%. You are now left with $9,000.

If you usually give $10,000 to charity, the better option would be to donate the 100 shares directly to charity.

If you donate the stock directly to a charity, you'll get a tax deduction for the full fair market value (FMV) of $10,000, without paying tax on the gain. (People save millions this way!)

Of course, this only makes sense in cases where you were planning to give 10,000 to charity regardless. Otherwise you’re spending $1 to save $0.37. Don’t do it!

(The number of people that don’t seem to get this is staggering. Never spend on crap you don’t need just to save on taxes! Congrats, You’re now poorer but at least you didn’t pay taxes 🙄)

And of course, always speak to your tax pro before the fact, not after. Tax advice is never one size fit all. There are too many variables.

Wait, did I just give one size fit all advice?? 🤔

[Izzzy]

Maybe forget again. One CPA advised me against it but I don't remember the scenario. Forgetting these things is common.

By forgetting again, I am risking having to pay penalties and interest when they eventually get around to figuring out on their own that I didn't report that 1099 INT.

[herb]

When reconciling excess APTC, someone told me that there is a cap on what you need to pay back to the marketplace if you underestimated your income. Anyone familiar with that?

to be more specific, it's hard to get exact number in beginning of year, taking in salary raise, investment income, and other miscellaneous 1099s etc. as well as any deductions and other factors.
That being said, trying to avoid any tax penalties, I would have thought to overestimate, but if they won't take back all the money I owe necessarily, I'd rather underestimate.
Not specifically trying to be dishonest, as the official policy is that they do take back the excess PTC, just they are "mochel" part of it. Unlike Medicaid for example where if I would underestimate, I am legitimately taking money that I'm not entitled to. Unless I make no sense and I'm just trying to justify it in my head and it is regular tax fraud....