One may still question just how tax returns got linked with health care, but they did and that means that I occasionally have to talk about it. That occasion is now as Open Enrollment started at healthcare.gov on November 1.

By now, most are aware that the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare requires United States residents to have health care coverage or face financial penalties. One may also question whether the government should be involved in such areas, but they are and we occasionally have to talk about it.

The enrollment period is open until December 15, but you should not wait that long to make a move if you need to sign up for insurance. Giving yourself time to fill out all the information that is required and figure out what your potential plan(s) will involve can only be a positive.

Then again, being in the tax industry, I know that many people like to procrastinate until the absolute last moments (and beyond), so I would assume the web traffic on December 15 to still be rather heavy.

The tax implications of the ACA still are not completely understood by everyone as they remain fairly new in the grand scheme of tax law. This can be especially true for those who worked for companies that offered health insurance, but then moved on and had to seek coverage elsewhere.

So if you have some of these questions (and actually want to address them before it is too late), then do not hesitate to give us a call. We can help you see how your health coverage decisions will affect your financial picture through 2017.

And if you have any final questions (for it is starting to get late to address these as well) about your picture for 2016, then please also feel free to contact us with those, as well.

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I would really prefer to leave much of the political talk surrounding the recent presidential election behind, but it is important. Thankfully, some of the social media furor has quieted since last week and many are starting to gain perspective on the situation.

I also do not like to bank too much on future predictions, but it is clear that once Donald Trump assumes the presidency there are going to some tax code changes for 2017. We cannot know exactly what new rules are going to be enacted, but some educated guesses can be made.

If this is something you are concerned about, this Forbes article by Tony Nitti gives an extensive look into what Trump’s proposed tax plan would mean. So although I will not propose any strategy here that I feel everyone should follow (for there is rarely anything that universal), there are some theories one could posit about future tax years that could lead to moves you want to make by the end of the year.

So if this is something else you would like to discuss, again please do not hesitate to contact us, for we are always here to help you with all tax decisions.