Whether you’re planning to claim charitable deductions on your 2018 return or make donations for 2019, be sure you know how much you’re allowed to deduct. Your deduction depends on more than just the actual amount you donate. WHAT YOU GIVE Among the biggest factors affecting your deduction is what you give. For example: Cash [...]
Working from home has become commonplace for people in many jobs. But just because you have a home office space doesn’t mean you can deduct expenses associated with it. Beginning with the 2018 tax year, few taxpayers will qualify for the home office deduction. Here’s why. CHANGES UNDER THE TCJA For employees, home office expenses [...]
Contrary to popular belief, there’s nothing in the U.S. Constitution or federal law that prohibits multiple states from collecting tax on the same income. Although many states provide tax credits to prevent double taxation, those credits are sometimes unavailable. If you maintain residences in more than one state, here are some points to keep in [...]
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) made many changes to tax breaks for individuals. Let’s look at some specific areas to review as you lay the groundwork for filing your 2018 return. PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS For 2018, through 2025, the TCJA suspends personal exemptions. This will substantially increase taxable income for large families. However, enhancements [...]
Smart timing of deductible expenses can reduce your tax liability, and poor timing can increase it unnecessarily. One deductible expense you may be able to control to your advantage is your property tax payment. You can prepay (by December 31) property taxes that relate to 2018 (the taxes must be assessed in 2018) but that [...]
When is a loss actually a gain? When that loss becomes an opportunity to lower tax liability, of course. Now’s a good time to begin your year-end tax planning and attempt to neutralize gains and losses by year end. To do so, it might make sense to sell investments at a loss in 2018 to [...]