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2017 TCJA Summary and Analysis
**With the recent changes in tax law, we are posting the below as a summary and analysis that we hope will aid in understanding some of the changes in the new tax law that was passed on December 22, 2017. Please note that while efforts were made to assure the accuracy of the below article,
IRS Warns of Tax Scam with Fake W-2 Forms http://bit.ly/2n3aVeR
The 2018 tax filing season will begin on Jan. 29, the IRS announced. That’s the date the IRS will begin accepting electronic and paper returns (though many tax professionals and software companies will accept returns earlier). Processing returns will begin in mid-Feb. The earliest that refunds claiming the earned income credit or additional child tax credit will be available will be Feb. 27. The IRS expects over 90% of refunds to be issued within 21 days.
A couple must pay tax on a lump sum Social Security benefit. The U.S. Tax Court upheld an IRS decision that a married couple should have included in their gross income a lump sum, which the husband had received in the year at issue. It included past-due benefits that had accrued during years while the husband was awaiting a decision on his disability claim. The taxpayers argued that if they’d received the payments over a three-year period as they accrued,
The property tax deduction will remain in the U.S. House tax reform bill. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) said a deduction for some local taxes will remain in the soon-to-be-released tax bill. “We are restoring an itemized property tax deduction to help taxpayers with local tax burdens,” he stated. Republicans had proposed eliminating the federal deduction for state and local taxes (SALT). Analysts say that doing away with the SALT deduction would hit upper-middle-class families in high-income-tax states.
Charitable giving allows you to help an organization you care about and, in most cases, enjoy a valuable income tax deduction. If you’re considering a large gift, a noncash donation such as appreciated real estate can provide additional benefits. For example, if you’ve held the property for more than one year, you generally will be able to deduct its full fair market value and avoid any capital gains tax you’d owe if you sold the property.
Converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA can provide tax-free growth and the ability to withdraw funds tax-free in retirement. But what if you convert a traditional IRA — subject to income taxes on all earnings and deductible contributions — and then discover that you would have been better off if you hadn’t converted it? Fortunately, it’s possible to undo a Roth IRA conversion, using a “recharacterization.”
Reasons to recharacterize
There are several possible reasons to undo a Roth IRA conversion.
If your business is a limited liability company (LLC) or a limited liability partnership (LLP), you know that these structures offer liability protection and flexibility as well as tax advantages. But they once also had a significant tax disadvantage: The IRS used to treat all LLC and LLP owners as limited partners for purposes of the passive activity loss (PAL) rules, which can result in negative tax consequences. Fortunately, these days LLC and LLP owners can be treated as general partners,
Most of the talk about possible tax legislation this year has focused on either wide-sweeping tax reform or taxes that are part of the Affordable Care Act. But there are a few other potential tax developments for individuals to keep an eye on.
Back in December of 2015, Congress passed the PATH Act, which made a multitude of tax breaks permanent. However, there were a few valuable breaks for individuals that it extended only through 2016.
Unemployment tax rates for employers vary from state to state. Your unemployment tax bill may be influenced by the number of former employees who’ve filed unemployment claims with the state, your current number of employees and your business’s age. Typically, the more claims made against a business, the higher the unemployment tax bill.
Here are six ways to control your unemployment tax costs:
1. Buy down your unemployment tax rate if your state permits it.
HBL CPAs is a full-service Certified Public Accounting firm based in Tucson, Arizona. HBL has been providing tax services, accounting services, auditing and attestation services, consulting services, and various other services since 1973.
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