Tax Rules and Mistakes: EDU #2615

The Retirement and IRA Show

Jim Saulnier, CFP® & Chris Stein, CFP®

Business, Investing

4.3 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2026

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Chris’s Summary
Jim and I are joined by Jake as we discuss tax rules and mistakes through two tax-focused PSAs before moving into listener emails. Jake covers a denied non-cash charitable deduction due to an incomplete Form 8283 and missing contemporaneous documentation, then walks through how estimated tax payments and safe harbor rules are calculated from prior-year tax liability. We then address listener emails on establishing home basis after a spouse’s death, how the senior deduction is reduced for married couples, and comparing IRA versus Roth withdrawal strategies.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary
Chris and I are joined by Jake as we spend some time on two tax-focused PSAs from Jake before getting into listener emails. Jake walks through a tax court case where a non-cash charitable donation was denied because Form 8283 wasn’t completed correctly and the required documentation wasn’t done at the time—even though the donation itself was valid. This highlights how strict tax rules and mistakes around them can cost you. He also breaks down estimated tax payments—those quarterly amounts that show up on your return after you’ve already paid what you owed—and how they’re calculated off the prior year to get you into the safe harbor.

We then get into a situation involving a home purchased in the early 1970s, no improvements over the years, a spouse passing in a community property state, and now the question of what the basis actually is and how to determine it years later without anything documented at the time, which is more common than you’d think. There’s also a question on the senior deduction where the reduction ends up applying to each spouse, which changes the expected result. Finally, we look at two different withdrawal approaches using traditional IRA and Roth accounts over the next few years, and how those choices shift balances and taxes depending on how the income is sourced and what you’re actually trying to accomplish with it.

The post Tax Rules and Mistakes: EDU #2615 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The retirement and IRA show represents the words and views of the show hosts exclusively and should not be construed as investment legal or tax advice.
0:06.9	All information is believed to be from reliable sources. However, we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy.
0:12.0	All economic and performance information is historical in nature and is not indicative of any future results.
0:16.5	Any indices mentioned on the show are unmanaged and cannot be invested indirectly.
0:19.9	Diversification and asset allocation strategies do not assure profit or protect against loss.
0:23.8	Never make any investment or financial decisions based on information offered on this show without first consulting your financial legal or tax advisor.
0:29.6	Financial planning services offered through Jim Solnior and Associates LLC, a registered investment advisor.
0:47.2	This is the retirement and IRA show coming to you from beautiful Northern Colorado.
0:52.8	Join us as certified financial planner Jim Sonier, as well as Colorado State University finance instructorructor and certified financial planner Chris Stein, teach you about IRAs,
0:58.3	borrow-in-case, annuities, social security, pension plans, and estate planning in a fun and enjoyable show.
1:05.4	Whether you are listening live in Colorado or streaming from their website or iTunes podcast,
1:10.8	Jim and Chris want you to know that
1:12.5	they're available to help you plan for your retirement. Just visit their website at JimHelps.com.
1:18.5	That's Jim H-E-L-P-S dot com and click the Meet the Team button on the homepage. Now here's Jim
1:25.7	and Chris with today's show. Well, hello and everybody and
1:30.8	welcome to the Retirement and IRA show EDU edition for this week. Today's EDU show is going to
1:37.8	feel a bit like a Q&A show, and that's because we're going to take advantage of a special visitor to the office here
1:48.0	in our home base of Fort Collins, Colorado. Jersey Jake, as I like to call him, is visiting us
1:55.9	from New Jersey, and Jake, as I'm sure you've heard, if you've been on the listener roles for a while
2:04.6	here on the show, he's one of our planners. He's a certified financial planner. Also happens to be an
2:09.5	enrolled agent. And he generally works for us remotely as part of the team. And he's visiting us here in colorful Colorado,
2:19.3	although it's kind of gray and dreary today.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jim Saulnier, CFP® & Chris Stein, CFP®, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jim Saulnier, CFP® & Chris Stein, CFP® and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.