The IRS generally requires taxpayers to shoulder recordkeeping burdens. If you have not kept the necessary tax records in the past— or if your methods have been inadequate— make it a New Year's resolution to improve in 2019. The process will undoubtedly go smoother if you organize your records in a logical fashion. Also, [...]
This is the time of year when you traditionally step up donations to charities. Generally, you can deduct your contributions in the tax year in which they are made, subject to certain limits. But there are additional complications in 2018. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the standard deduction is essentially doubled [...]
2018 Year-End Tax Planning Letter (Click here for a PDF/Printable Version of the JMF 2018 Year-End Tax Planning Letter) Dear Clients and Friends: Year-end tax planning in 2018 is probably more complicated than it has ever been before. The new tax law enacted late last year, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), completely [...]
If you are in the process of getting divorced or separated, or are about to embark on proceedings, you might want to resolve matters before the end of the year. What’s the rush? Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), alimony expenses paid pursuant to agreements executed after 2018 are no longer deductible. Most [...]
Tax planning is especially complicated this year-end due to the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Under the TCJA, tax rates are cut, personal exemptions are eliminated, the standard deduction is increased and certain itemized deductions are modified—just to mention a few of the major changes. The TCJA provisions for individuals are generally [...]
The biggest news in tax circles is, of course, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enacted late last year. But the TCJA isn’t the only important new tax legislation. With little fanfare, the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA), a government spending measure, extended about 30 tax provisions that had expired at the end of 2016. [...]
“Opportunity Zones” are included in the new tax law known as Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. These zones encourage private sector investment in low-income community businesses which are inside defined census tract lines throughout the United States. The new tax code allows any taxpayer to defer gains until the earlier of the [...]
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) eliminates personal exemptions on your tax return, including dependency exemptions for children. But another TCJA provision may cushion the blow. The Child Tax Credit (CTC) for each qualified child under age 17 is doubled from $1,000 to $2,000. Of this amount, $1,400 is “refundable” (i.e., it is available [...]
Although Congress threatened to reduce the benefits of the home sale exclusion, the final version of the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) did not include a crackdown. As a result, if you sell your home at a huge profit and qualify under the existing rules, you can still exclude up to $250,000 [...]
The new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 is designed to stimulate business growth by cutting corporate tax rates and enhancing tax benefits for acquiring business property. Under the TCJA, your company may be able to deduct the full cost of property placed in service in 2018 through a combination of rules relating [...]