Higher than expected taxable income and / or the additional income from the Roth IRA conversion resulted in a bump to
a higher federal income tax bracket.
When you move up a marginal tax rate, only that portion of your income that falls into
the higher Federal Income Tax bracket is taxed at the higher rate.
Not exact matches
This represents the first
federal increase to the
highest income tax bracket since the
federal income tax system was reformed in 1988.
If we assume the average
federal tax rate on capital
income is 25 per cent (most capital
income is
taxed in the
higher 22 per cent, 26 per cent and 29 per cent
tax brackets), this yields a revenue cost of $ 6.6 - billion, or 7 per cent of
federal income tax revenues.
Maybe 15 percent of your
income is taken right off the paycheck by the FICA [
Federal Insurance Contributions Act] for Social Security and essentially pre-saving for Social Security medical care (which provides the government with enough money to cut
taxes on the
higher brackets.)
(Keep in mind that those
taxes could go
higher depending on your
federal income tax bracket and any applicable early withdrawal penalties.)
One rare exception to this flurry of
higher tax activity came in 2016, when the
federal government dropped the rate for one middle
income bracket, to 20.5 per cent from 22 per cent.
The additional taxable
income that is the result of converting a Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA puts you into a
higher federal tax bracket.
Taxpayers in the
highest tax brackets are also ineligible for any of the
tax credits and deductions associated with
higher education expenses — as well as for the generous
tax advantages that lower
income taxpayers receive from contributing to traditional and Roth IRAs — because of the
income caps set by the
federal government.
You don't pay
income tax on the money when you contribute it (during your working life when your salary is
high and you are in a
high percentage
tax «
bracket», i.e.
Federal tax is 25 - 33 % and state
tax is 0 - 12 %).
Roth vs. Traditional IRA Contributions — In recent years, we have moved up a rung or two on the
federal tax bracket to the point where, in all likelihood, it will be
higher than our taxable
income in retirement (basically just expecting investment
income on our taxable brokerage account and withdrawals from traditional retirement plans for
income in retirement).
For example: A married couple earns $ 350,000 of ordinary
income and faces a marginal
federal tax rate as
high as 39.8 %: a 33 %
tax bracket plus two percentage points for the phaseout of personal exemptions, one point for the phaseout of itemized deductions and a 3.8 % Medicare surtax on net investment
income.
Also, except for the first $ 200 donated, the Canadian
federal part of the
tax credit assumes you're in the
highest income tax bracket.
The problem for this option, however, is I may have to pay more
federal income taxes if I am in a
higher tax bracket at that time.
But if you're in one of the top
federal income tax brackets and live in a state with
high income taxes, you may come out ahead with a
tax - free fund.
If we assume the average
federal tax rate on capital
income is 25 per cent (most capital
income is
taxed in the
higher 22 per cent, 26 per cent and 29 per cent
tax brackets), this yields a revenue cost of $ 6.6 - billion, or 7 per cent of
federal income tax revenues.
One rare exception to this flurry of
higher tax activity was in 2016 when the
federal government dropped the rate for one middle
income bracket, to 20.5 per cent from 22 per cent.
Since you don't pay
federal or state
income taxes on Roth withdrawals, the
higher your
tax bracket in retirement, the more advantageous a Roth is likely to be.
Depending on your
federal tax bracket, ordinary
income tax rates can be as
high as 37 percent whereas capital gains
tax rates top out at 20 percent.