For the second year, Medscape surveyed physicians about their thoughts and actions around taxes . You can sign up for a free Medscape account to see the entire report The Medscape Physicians and Taxes Report.
Here are the highlights:
The surveyed physicians paid, on average, about $100,000 in taxes in 2022.
Federal taxes are up from $73K in 2021 to $84K in 2022. This could be explained by rising income, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that hiked income taxes in certain tax brackets and the loss of deductions.
Three out of four physicians think they pay too much in taxes. This is in contrast the findings of a Gallup poll in which half of Americans thought they paid too much in taxes.
Almost half of physicians (48%) prepare their own taxes.
The tax breaks physician use most often include:
- Contributing to charity (70%)
- Contributing to a pre-tax 401(k) account (60%)
- Deducting interest on a home mortgage (52%)
- Writing off business expenses (46%)
- Contributing to a 529 college savings plan. (27%)
About 20% of physicians report that they have been audited. In general they believe that the IRS auditors treated them fairly.
Four out of five physicians believe income, estate and capital gains taxes will increase in the future.
Do any of these numbers surprise you?
As a student of doctors and their relationship with money, many of these findings surprised me!
How to leverage this report as a marketing tool:
You can engage doctor prospects and clients by sharing the findings of this Medscape report. Say, “Doctor, did you catch the recent Medscape report about physicians and taxes? The title is ‘Do Doctors Pay Too Much in Taxes?’ Do you think you pay too much in taxes?”
You can continue, “Taxes matter. Taxes represent your biggest lifetime expense. You don’t have control of your money if you don’t have control of your taxes. What are you doing to proactively manage your taxes today and into retirement?”
Tax planning can and should be a critical component of any wealth-creation plan.