Tax deferral refers to the practice of delaying the payment of taxes until a later date. Some taxes can be postponed forever, while others might be subject to future taxation at a reduced rate. Both firms and individual taxpayers have the option of deferring some taxes; another method of tax deferral is the retention of corporate profits abroad. An individual taxpayer must deposit money into a retirement account in order to postpone paying taxes on earnings. A 10% early withdrawal penalty is applied to the total amount taken out if the taxpayer withdraws the money before turning 59.5. After this age, a more favourable tax rate is applied to account earnings that are withdrawn.
By 2015, Philip had amassed $100,000 in his IRA, and in 2016, the account generated $10,000. Instead of paying taxes now on the $10,000 gain, Philip will do so in the future when he withdraws money from his IRA.
If Philip’s $10,000 income from 2016 had not been in a tax-deferred account, he would have had to pay $3,333 in taxes on it, bringing the net gain down to $6,667. Philip was in a 33 percent tax bracket. Philip received a return on the full $10,000 as opposed to the theoretical after-tax $6,667 since IRAs are tax-deferred. Year after year, the benefits of tax deferral grow.
In order to collect overdue property taxes, the taxing authority may sell the property’s deed or title as well as the actual property itself. To obtain a tax deed, the taxing authority—typically a county government—must follow a set of legal procedures. Depending on local and municipal rules, these actions may also involve alerting the owner of the property, requesting a tax deed, placing a sign at the property, and publishing a public notice of the sale.
