Happy holidays and…tax reporting for IRAs, HSAs and ESAs?
Guest post written by Paul Kern, Manager of Instruction at Ascensus
It’s that time of year again! And no, I’m not talking about the holidays and gift giving. In fact, the timing has more to do with a little bit of ‘bah humbug’ in the form of 2012 IRA, HSA, and Coverdell ESA Tax Reporting. = )
Nobody likes to be the Grinch, and a little preparation today will help make the process run smoothly and let you save the Holidays!
The overall process is deceptively simple:
Get Started
First, make sure that your credit union knows the important dates for this reporting. Knowing the deadlines to report IRA/HSA/ESA information to the IRS and your IRA/HSA Owners or ESA Designated Beneficiaries will aid in planning your work load over this busy season.
Understand the Forms
Secondly, make sure you are able to recognize which IRS tax forms to use for each type of reportable transaction will allow you to prepare your core system for what is about to come.
Review Your Policies and Procedures
You also want to take this opportunity to fully review your credit union’s IRA/HSA/ESA procedures or policies to help take the sting out of any surprises that may come your way.
But like anything else, once you start digging in more deeply the details can very quickly get confusing, especially to those of you that may not have had the pleasure of working on the year-end tax reporting before.
To help you and your credit union out with all these technicalities, I am presenting a free webinar with NAFCU Services on December 13th 2:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m. ET which will cover the basics of tax reporting for your credit union in regards to IRA/HSA/ESAs. Register today to make sure you are prepared!
While You’re at It…
End of the year reporting is not only good from a compliance stand point for your credit union. Diving into end of the year reporting means you’re already getting into the nitty gritty financial details. Because of this, it also makes it the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate your credit union’s strategy as well. How can you make 2013 better than 2012? Ask yourself how you can better serve your members, or if there is any time saving/cost saving procedures you can implement that get the same results as your current procedures. What kind of results did you have with your loan programs and with your marketing strategies? The end of the year is great time to look over results within your credit union so that you can start the next year even stronger.
Happy holidays, happy tax reporting, and look forward to seeing you on December 13th!