On June 21, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in South Dakota vs. Wayfair (“Wayfair”). The fallout of this decision will significantly change the way online vendors handle sales and use (“S&U”) tax for out-of-state consumers going forward. It will, therefore, also affect online consumers. Are you impacted!?
Current Law:
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 limits individual taxpayer’s state and local tax (SALT), itemized deduction to $10,000 (including real estate taxes). The previous law allowed an unlimited deduction. This change may be detrimental to many individual taxpayers who relied heavily on these deductions in the past.
State Work-Arounds:
Some states have considered “work-arounds” to combat this limitation. Select states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, New York and New Jersey, thus far) have created state read more…
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 affected the tax deduction for interest paid on home equity debt as of 2018.
Under prior law, you could deduct interest on up to $100,000 of home equity debt, no matter how you used the money. The old rule is scheduled to return in 2026.
The bad news is that you now cannot deduct interest on home equity loans or home equity lines of credit if you use the money for college bills, medical expenses, paying down credit card debt, etc.
The good news is that the IRS has announced “Interest on Home Equity Loans Often Still Deductible Under New Law.”
read more…
A proposed bill has the potential to put taxpayers in a charitable mode.
U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) recently introduced the “Charitable Giving Tax Deduction Act,’ a bipartisan bill that would make charitable tax deductions “above-the-line,” allowing taxpayers to write off charitable donations without limitation, whether or not they choose to itemize.
The proposed bill would address concerns that changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will result in fewer taxpayers itemizing their deductions, reducing the tax incentive to make charitable contributions.
read more…
Many higher income taxpayers have long made it a practice to open investment accounts for their children, hoping to take advantage of their lower tax rates. Many years ago, Congress imposed, what is colloquially known as the “kiddie tax” to place strict limits on the amount of investment income that can be taxed at those lower rates.
One of the changes made by the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 made some significant changes to how the “kiddie tax” is administered, impacting the way adults pass investment income on to their minor children.
The “kiddie tax” is a provision that taxes the unearned income of children under the age of 19 and of full-time students younger than 24 at a special rate. Under both the new law and the old, the first $1,050 of a child’s income is tax-free and the next $1,050 is taxed at a rate of 10 percent.
When couples divorce, financial negotiations often involve alimony. The tax rules regarding alimony were dramatically changed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, but existing agreements have been grandfathered. In addition, the old rules remain in effect for divorce and separation agreements executed during 2018. Next year, the rules will change, and the roles will be reversed.
Under divorce or separation agreements executed in 2018, and for many years in the past, alimony payments have been tax deductible. Moreover, these deductions reduce adjusted gross income, so they may have benefits elsewhere on a tax return. While the spouse or former spouse paying the alimony gets a tax deduction, the recipient reports alimony as taxable income.
Shifting into reverse
Beginning with agreements executed in 2019, there will be no tax deduction for alimony. As an offset, alimony recipients will not include the payments in income.
read more…
WASHINGTON –The Internal Revenue Service recently released (2/28/18 irs.gov) an updated Withholding Calculator on IRS.gov and a new version of Form W-4 to help taxpayers check their 2018 tax withholding following passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December. 
The IRS urges taxpayers to use these tools to make sure they have the right amount of tax taken out of their paychecks.
“Following the major changes in the tax law, the IRS encourages employees to check their paychecks to help ensure they’re having the right amount of tax withheld for their personal situation,” said Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter. read more…
If you use one of the many online platforms available to rent a spare bedroom, provide car rides, or to connect and provide a number of other goods or services, you’re involved in what is sometimes called the sharing or gig economy.
An emerging area of activity in the past few years, the sharing economy has changed how people commute, travel, rent vacation accommodations and perform many other activities.
Also referred to as the on-demand, gig or access economy, the sharing economy allows individuals and groups to utilize technology advancements to arrange transactions to generate revenue from assets they possess – (such as cars and homes) – or services they provide – (such as household chores or technology services). read more…
Some taxpayers receive emails that appear to be from the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) about a tax refund. These emails are a phishing scam, trying to trick victims into providing personal and financial information.
Do not respond or click any link. If you receive this scam, forward it to phishing@irs.gov and note that it seems to be a scam phishing for your information.
TAP is a volunteer board that advises the IRS on systemic issues affecting taxpayers. It never requests, and does not have access to, any taxpayer’s personal and financial information.
read more…
The IRS recently announced additional requirements for taxpayers and tax professionals to verify their identities when they call as part of security efforts.
Taxpayers and professionals should have the following documents ready when they call:
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