Question

What is the difference between tax preparation and tax planning?

Answer

Tax preparation is the annual process of reporting past financial activity to comply with IRS filing requirements. It records decisions that have already been made and locks in your tax liability for the prior year. Tax planning is a forward-looking process — analyzing your current financial situation, projecting income, and implementing legal strategies throughout the year to reduce the taxes you’ll owe before the year ends. Preparation tells you what you owed. Planning influences what you may owe.

About Mercer Advisors

We exist so you don’t have to worry about money. For more than 40 years, we’ve taken the sophisticated, time-tested approach that many ultra-high net worth individuals use to help manage their financial lives and made it accessible to more families.

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