The Alabama Department of Revenue (ADOR) has launched alabamataxamnesty.com, a website dedicated to the Alabama Tax Delinquency Amnesty Program of 2018. The program begins July 1st and runs through September 30, 2018. Please note that to be eligible, the taxpayer may not have been previously contacted by ADOR (within the last two years) to file returns. Most [...]
The new tax law enacted at the end of last year—the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)—provides numerous tax changes for individuals, including tax rate cuts and a higher standard deduction. Significantly, the TCJA also eliminates or modifies certain deductions, including the majority of itemized deductions, beginning in 2018. As a result, fewer taxpayers are [...]
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) repeals or cuts back many deductions on personal returns, but the medical expense deduction survived the chopping block. In fact, the new law temporarily enhances the deduction, retroactive to the 2017 tax year. In other words, you can benefit from this tax-favored treatment on the 2017 return you [...]
The Alabama Legislature passed HB 384 last week and Governor signed it into law. This bill is the "Moody fix”. Basically, the law codifies the form changes ADOR made in 2013 based on a Regulation change rather than a change in the Statute. The bill also provides for taxpayers to receive refunds for 2013 (assuming [...]
Reports of the death of the federal estate tax are premature. Significantly, the TCJA retains the federal estate- and gift-tax systems but doubles the federal estate tax exemption to $11.2 million for 2018. (The $5 million exemption was scheduled to be indexed to $5.6 million in 2018.) This increase will vanish after 2025. As a [...]
As we mentioned in this blog in December, certain Alabama AMT taxpayers should consider donating to the Alabama Opportunity Scholarship Fund. The same process can be used to maximize your State and Local Tax Deduction. Alabama has allocated $30,000,000 to this program for 2018. Currently, there is just over $6.5M remaining for 2018 and [...]
One sure sign that spring is coming: It is time to prepare to file your annual tax return. You can alleviate some of the usual stress if you have your 2017 return professionally prepared, but you still have some work to do. Here are seven practical suggestions to help you spring into action: 1. Assemble [...]
The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that the Social Security wage base is increasing in 2018, but not by much. It says the 6.2% Social Security tax will apply to $128,700 of wages in 2018, up from $127,200 in 2017. That’s an increase of slightly more than 1% as compared with the increase of more [...]
Charitable deductions are often treasured by high-income taxpayers who itemize deductions on their personal returns (less people will itemize their 2018 taxes due to new tax law). But your charitable deductions are at risk if you do not have the requisite proof to back up your claims. Worst-case scenario: You are forced to forfeit all [...]
With the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by the President, the following are a few actions that, if taken by year-end, may soften the impact of a few of the disappearing or reduced deductions: For contributions made in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, the Act eliminates the allowance of charitable [...]