Certain tax items are adjusted annually for inflation each year. The numbers that follow are not official releases by the IRS, but reflect the probable amounts that will be in effect for tax year 2018, based on the formulas used by the IRS.
The standard deduction for couples filing a joint return is anticipated to increase to $13,000, an increase of $300 from 2017. Single and married filing separately is half that amount. Head of Household will be $9,550, a $200 increase. Taxpayers 65 years or older or blind will get an additional $1,300 standard deduction, a $50 increase. Personal and dependency exemptions will be the same as for 2017, $1,050. These increases will result in an increase in the minimum income requiring taxpayers to file a return.
Of interest to businesses, the amount of assets that can be expensed under Section 179 increases $10,000 to $520,000.
When an IRS tax-exempt organization confers a de minimis benefit on a donor the value of that benefit for 2018 cannot exceed $10.90 if the donor makes a minimum contribution of $54.50. This represents an increase of 20 cents and one dollar respectively.
The amount of a gift that qualifies under the annual exclusion increases $1,000 to $15,000 for 2017. The lifetime exclusion amount for gifts and estates rises to $5,600,000, a $110,000 increase.
For U. S. citizens who work in a foreign country, the foreign earned income exclusion is increased by $2,000 to $104,100 per taxpayer.
Other numbers will be changing, some will remain the same. Listing them all here would result in a very boring article. Please contact me if you need to know the change for other tax item amounts.
Have questions? Contact John Stancil
Dr. John Stancil (My Bald CPA) is Professor Emeritus of Accounting and Tax at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, FL. He is a CPA, CMA, and CFM and passed all exams on the first attempt. He holds a DBA from the University of Memphis and the MBA from the University of Georgia. He has maintained a CPA practice since 1979 with an emphasis in taxation. His areas of expertise include church and clergy tax issues and the foreign earned income credit. He prepares all types of returns, individual and business.
Dr. Stancil has written for the Polk County Business Journal and has presented a number of papers at academic conferences. He wrote the Instructor’s Manual for the 13th edition of Horngren’s Cost Accounting. He is published in the Global Sustainability as a Business Imperative, Green Issues and Debates, The Encyclopedia of Business in Today’s World, The Palmetto Business Review, The CPA Journal, and in the NATP TaxPro Journal. His paper, “Building Sustainability into the Tax Code” was recognized as the outstanding accounting paper at the annual meeting of the South East InfORMS. He wrote a book entitled “Tax Issues Faced by U. S. Missionary Personnel Abroad ” that will soon be published.
He has recently launched a new endeavor, Church Tax Solutions, which presents online, on demand seminars on various church and clergy tax issues.
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