It’s Never Too Soon for (Next Year’s) Tax Planning

It’s 2025, and it doesn’t take a fortune teller to know that your desk is blanketed in 2024 tax forms. Which is why it may feel counterintuitive to suggest that you look past those piles to the horizon of next year’s taxes. Doing so could be extremely advantageous, especially if your client recently said, “Let’s push ‘that’ off until next year.”

“In the sweet spot after year-end close and before filings, you can look back and forward to forecast for next year,” said Mike DiPaolo, vice president of philanthropy and Southern Delaware for the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF).

It’s likely you have clients anticipating major life changes in 2025. One may be retiring after a successful career, while another might want to sell a business or transfer property. Maybe one recently passed away and you are thinking about how to advise the next generation, or another has an “oddball” holding – anything from a yacht to a soybean crop – they want to dispose of without too much financial impact.

In all these cases, what can help smooth the transition is the incorporation of your client’s desire for charitable giving

“Big financial decisions rarely happen quickly. Each takes time, patience and planning,” said DiPaolo. “The DCF can offer you all three to customize your client’s experience in a low-key way. This can help them achieve their financial and philanthropic goals and ease some of your work burden.”

CPA Brian Stetina experienced the benefits of partnering with the DCF when his client planned to sell 30% of the company he had founded back to the employees, which would have resulted in a large capital gain. As the managing partner and tax director for Faw Casson, an accounting firm with 80 years’ experience on Delmarva, he recognized there was an opportunity to couple three goals – major transition, tax mitigation and charitable impact – in one motion.

“The DCF offered what was really the perfect opportunity,” said Stetina. “It was a tricky situation; this was not public stock or a piece of property, rather he was selling private ownership to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).”

The DCF specializes in helping charitably minded people put their passion for philanthropy into very real action. Unlike major financial houses, where the objective is on “getting the business,” the DCF’s sole goal is to help Delawareans focus on how they want to impact the world around them, today, tomorrow and when they are gone.

Stetina’s client made a one-time gift to the DCF, establishing a donor advised fund (DAF). He liked the idea of being able to set up the DAF and having a say in how the money would be directed over a period of time. Stetina appreciated another nuance.

“The nice thing about giving away stock, (the client doesn’t) have to absorb the gain because they didn’t take the gain themselves; he transferred the shares directly and the gain went to the DCF. (He) got credit for full market value of the gift which he would not have gotten otherwise … (and) the DCF was able to facilitate the whole thing.”

While some clients opt to support a cause with a donor advised fund, others may create a scholarship to honor a loved one or make a one-time donation for the betterment of the state.

“There are many options – the key is that people can feel confident that they will be able to make a measurable impact in their own way and on their timetable,” said DiPaolo. “Our ability to assist with the sale of complex assets – and an understanding of the nuances of Delaware – set us apart. From stock portfolios to real estate to classic cars, from a flock of chickens to a crop of soybeans, we can help.”

The DCF recently assisted a donor who instructed his attorney to sell a commercial building after his death in order to mitigate estate taxes and establish a legacy gift. His attorney noted the efficiency of the process and the low fees. Equally important, the sale funded a major gift that has transformed Alzheimer’s research at universities in Delaware and Pennsylvania, a direct representation of the donor’s philanthropic passion.

Back to your desk. Envision sitting there in early 2026, feeling secure that the philanthropic needs of your clients have been put into action.

Attorney Michelle Porcino-Wells of Porcino-Wells & Woodland, working on an unrelated case, recently said, “I love DCF as a resource because I know that if I have clients who are interested in philanthropy, I’ve got somebody that does this all the time that I can refer them to, and they’re going to be in good hands.”

To learn more about how the Delaware Community Foundation can support you and your client’s with their charitable goals, reach out to Mike DiPaolo at 302-889-1884 or at mdpaolo@delcf.org. Learn more at www.delcf.org/advisors-partner-with-us/

This original article was published in the Winter 2025 issue of the Delaware Banker.