Are You Eligible For a 2018 Tax Refund?
You may be one of the many taxpayers eligible for a refund from their 2018 tax return. Last December, tacked on to an Appropriations Act, Congress passed the long-awaited extenders bill. This bill had been lingering in Congress for about 2 years and extended several beneficial tax provisions that had expired after 2017. As a result, these provisions were retroactively extended to 2018 and most are continued through 2020. This opens the door to amending your 2018 return for a refund if any of the following provisions apply to you. Here are the retroactive tax benefits:
As of Tuesday, April 21st, the Senate has passed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (PPP & HCE Act), a $484 billion package which will now go to the House of Representatives for consideration. It is anticipated that this bill could pass the House as early as Thursday, and President Trump is expected to sign it into law soon after.
The IRS has finally started making those much anticipated Economic Impact Payments, aka “Recovery Rebates.” However, not everyone who was expecting one has received theirs, and some may not be the amount expected.
On April 9, 2020, the Federal Reserve announced it would be taking additional steps to support the US economy by providing up to $2.3 trillion in loans, including through the creation of a Main Street Lending Program. This program will support main street businesses by providing financing to lenders that make direct loans to these small to medium-sized companies.
If you are struggling financially due to the COVID-19 epidemic, you will be happy to know Congress, as part of the CARES Act enacted on March 27, has made it easier for you to access your retirement funds during this emergency.
Taxpayers frequently ask what benefit is derived from a tax deduction. Unfortunately, there is no straightforward answer. The reason the benefit cannot be determined simply is because some deductions are above-the-line, others must be itemized, some must exceed a threshold amount before being deductible, and certain ones are not deductible for alternative minimum tax purposes, while business deductions can offset both income and self-employment tax. In other words, there are many factors to consider, and the tax benefits differ for each individual, depending on his or her particular situation.
Birth and Adoption Exception – The tax law provides for several exceptions to the early-withdrawal penalty, and Congress has added another one as part of the Appropriations Act of 2020 (SECURE Act). The new exception provides for penalty-free plan withdrawals for births or adoptions, for distributions taken from IRAs, qualified employer plans (such as 401(k)s) and government retirement plans after Dec. 31, 2019. However, the maximum aggregate amount of a qualified birth or adoption distribution by any individual with respect to any birth or adoption is $5,000, applied individually (so each spouse may separately receive $5,000 of qualified birth or adoption distributions).
Your dependent child who worked during the year or had investment income, such as interest or dividends, may be required to file a tax return, depending upon the type and amount of the income. Years ago, to prevent parents from putting their investments in their children’s names to avoid or significantly reduce the tax on their investment income, Congress passed what is commonly referred to as the kiddie tax. The kiddie tax taxes children’s income in excess of a small allowance at the parent’s top tax rate.
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Appropriations Act of 2020, which included a number of tax law changes, including retroactively extending certain tax provisions that expired after 2017 or were about to expire, a number of retirement and IRA plan modifications, and other changes that will impact a large portion of U.S. taxpayers as a whole. This article is one of a series of articles dealing with those changes and how they may affect you.
This is a question many taxpayers ask during this time of year, and the question is far more complicated than people believe. To fully understand, we need to consider that there are times when individuals are REQUIRED to file a tax return, and then there are times when it is to the individuals’ BENEFIT to file a return even if they are not required to file.