2018 Tax Changes

Most of you are aware that a new tax law was recently passed.  Most of the changes relate to 2018 and beyond – here are just a few of the ones most like to affect individuals.

Standard Deduction Increased

For tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2017 and before Jan. 1, 2026, the standard deduction is increased to $24,000 for married individuals filing a joint return, $18,000 for head-of-household filers, and $12,000 for all other taxpayers, adjusted for inflation in tax years beginning after 2018. No changes are made to the current-law additional standard deduction for the elderly and blind.  Read More

Lisa Nason, Tax Advisor

Both the House and Senate have passed their versions of President Trump’s tax bill, and there are many similarities, including the limiting of itemized deductions to mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and property taxes (up to $10,000), and the doubling of the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions from $5.6 million to $112 million in 2018. These versions also differ in a number of ways. These differences will have to be resolved through a legislative conference committee. Some differences should be easy to reconcile, but resolving others is expected to take time and effort. Read More

Both the House and Senate have passed their versions of President Trump’s tax bill, and there are many similarities, including the limiting of itemized deductions to mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and property taxes (up to $10,000), and the doubling of the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions from $5.6 million to $112 million in 2018. These versions also differ in a number of ways. These differences will have to be resolved through a legislative conference committee. Some differences should be easy to reconcile, but resolving others is expected to take time and effort. Read More

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that the maximum earnings subject to the Social Security component of the FICA tax will increase from $127,200 to $128,700 for 2018. This means that for 2018, the maximum Social Security tax that employers and employees will each pay is $7,979.40 ($128,700 x 6.2%).

A Breakdown

A self-employed person with at least $128,700 in net self-employment earnings will pay $15,958.80 ($128,700 x 12.40%) for the Social Security part of the self-employment tax.

The Medicare component remains 1.45% of all earnings, and individuals with earned income of more than $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly, $125,000 for married filing separately) will pay an additional 0.9% in Medicare taxes.

Read More

Lisa Nason, Tax Advisor

Many of our clients talk to us about setting up retirement plans, contributing to retirement plans, and focusing on the monetary aspects of retirement. But what they don’t do is spend a lot of time thinking about and planning for the nonfinancial aspects of their retirement; they don’t realize it’s the biggest transition they’ll ever go through.

The consequences of not planning can include sitting around with growing boredom. Retirees watch TV an average of 43.5 hours a week, according to Age Wave 2012, and lack of stimulation can be associated with higher risks of alcoholism or depression. Read More

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued an urgent warning about a new scheme targeting taxpayers. The scheme, which IRS Commissioner John Koskinen called “a new twist on an old scheme” involves a bogus email which impersonates the IRS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as part of a ransomware scam to take computer data hostage.

The scam email uses the emblems of both the IRS and the FBI. The email urges recipients to click on a link to download a questionnaire allegedly from the FBI. The email implies that the questionnaire is required as part of changes in the law focused on tax compliance. The regs referenced in the email are bogus, and the link doesn’t click through to a questionnaire. Instead, the link downloads ransomware. Read More

Kat Jennings: Can you tell us about your area of tax specialization and why you are so passionate about it? 

Lisa Nason: Our firm focuses on small and medium sized businesses as well as individuals. My particular focus leans towards professional athletes and entertainers, estates and trusts, and international issues. I love working with athletes, showing them how to save on their taxes and the different things we can do to mitigate them. Sometimes they are still young and have never filed a tax return at all. Working with them to help them manage some of that and consulting with them on being a business in general (as some of them are) is just so rewarding. Read More