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Tag Archives: Tax Reform

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Is It Time for a W-4 Tax Withholding Checkup?

Lake Wylie Tax Service | Bookkeeping | Payroll Service Posted on August 21, 2019 by Lake Wylie Tax Services StaffJanuary 23, 2020

Form W-4 Tax WithholdingWe are now over halfway through 2019, so it may be a good time to double-check your withholding and projected tax amounts in order to prevent another unpleasant surprise at tax time. If you are conversant with tax terminology, you can use the IRS’s newly updated withholding estimator to do so. This online tool helps you to determine whether your employer is withholding the right amount of tax from your paychecks. However, be careful, as the results are only as good as the information that you put into the withholding estimator. You also have to estimate your income for the year from various sources.

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Posted in Tax Central | Tagged Paycheck, Tax Planning, Tax Reform

Hobby or Business? It Makes a Difference for Taxes – Now More than Ever

Lake Wylie Tax Service | Bookkeeping | Payroll Service Posted on June 19, 2019 by Lake Wylie Tax Services StaffJanuary 23, 2020

Taxpayers are often confused by the differences in tax treatment between businesses that are entered into for profit and those that are not, commonly referred to as hobbies. Recent tax law changes have added to the confusion. The differences are:

Businesses Entered Into for Profit – For businesses entered into for profit, the profits are taxable, and losses are generally deductible against other income. The income and expenses are commonly reported on a Schedule C, and the profit or loss—after subtracting expenses from the business income—is carried over to the taxpayer’s 1040 tax return. (An exception to deducting the business loss may apply if the activity is considered a “passive” activity, but most Schedule C proprietors actively participate in their business, so the details of the passive loss rules aren’t included in this article.)

Hobbies – Hobbies, on the other hand, are not entered into for profit, and the government currently does not permit a taxpayer to deduct their hobby expenses but does require the income from the activity to be declared. (Prior to the changes included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, hobbyists were allowed to deduct expenses up to the amount of their hobby income as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on Schedule A. Being able to take this deduction is suspended for years 2018 through 2025.) Thus, hobby income is reported on Schedule 1 of their 1040 and no expenses are deductible.

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Posted in Tax Central | Tagged Tax Reform, taxes

Disappointed in Your Tax Refund?

Lake Wylie Tax Service | Bookkeeping | Payroll Service Posted on February 20, 2019 by Lake Wylie Tax Services StaffJanuary 23, 2020

frustrated over tax returnIf your tax refund is less than you anticipated, you are not alone. In a report issued by the Treasury Department on February 14, the average refund it is paying in 2019 has dropped to $1,949 from $2,135 in the prior year. In addition, the number of returns filed so far has dropped from 13.5 million last year to 11.4 million this year for the same period.

With all the hype about how tax reform would reduce taxes, taxpayers were anticipating larger refunds this year but instead are receiving less, on average. This has left the Republican lawmakers who passed the tax reform scrambling to explain why the refunds are lower.

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Posted in Tax Central | Tagged Tax Reform, Tax Refund, taxes

Relief from the Affordable Care Act Penalty for Not Being Insured

Lake Wylie Tax Service | Bookkeeping | Payroll Service Posted on February 15, 2019 by Lake Wylie Tax Services StaffJanuary 23, 2020

Tax PenaltiesThanks to the tax reform, beginning in 2019, the penalty for not having adequate health insurance, which the government refers to as the “individual shared responsibility payment,” will no longer apply. 

The elimination of this penalty as of 2019 does not impact the health care subsidy for low-income families, which is known as the premium tax credit and which is available for policies acquired through a government insurance marketplace. This elimination also does not affect the penalties assessed on employers that do not offer affordable insurance to employees and that have 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees. 

However, the penalty still applies for individual taxpayers who did not have minimum essential health coverage for 2018 and is the greater of the sum of the family’s flat dollar amounts or 2.5% of the amount by which the household’s income exceeds the income-tax-filing threshold. 

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Posted in Health Care Reform, Tax Central | Tagged Insurance, Medical, Tax Reform

Tax Reform Has Substantially Altered the Tax Benefits of Home Ownership

Lake Wylie Tax Service | Bookkeeping | Payroll Service Posted on February 12, 2019 by Lake Wylie Tax Services StaffJanuary 23, 2020

Advantage of Home OwnershipAs part of the recent tax reform, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the deduction for home mortgage interest and property taxes has undergone substantial alterations. These changes will impact most homeowners who itemize their deductions each year. Please read this article for more information as it pertains to your situation.

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Posted in Tax Central, Tax Deductions | Tagged Home and Mortgage, Tax Reform

Important – Rental Owners! Guidance Related to the 20% Pass-Through Deduction

Lake Wylie Tax Service | Bookkeeping | Payroll Service Posted on January 24, 2019 by Lake Wylie Tax Services StaffJanuary 23, 2020

beach front rentalsEver since tax reform was passed, over a year ago, taxpayers have been uncertain whether rental property will be classified as a trade or business for purposes of qualifying for the new IRC Sec 199A 20% pass-through deduction (commonly referred to as the 199A deduction).

Finally, on January 18, 2019, the IRS issued a notice which provided “safe harbor” conditions under which a rental real estate activity will be treated as a trade or business for purposes of the 199A deduction.

It’s important to note that this notice prescribes several conditions that must be met for a rental real estate enterprise (a tax term introduced by the IRS in this notice) to be deemed to be a trade or business and eligible for the section 199A 20% deduction. For purposes of this safe harbor, a rental real estate enterprise is defined as an interest in real property held for the production of rents and may consist of an interest in multiple properties.

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Posted in Tax Central | Tagged Rental Property, Tax Reform

Tax Time Is Around the Corner! Are You Ready?

Lake Wylie Tax Service | Bookkeeping | Payroll Service Posted on January 11, 2019 by Lake Wylie Tax Services StaffJanuary 23, 2020
Tax Time - Tax Preparation

– Shutterstock

Tax time is just around the corner, and if you are like most taxpayers, you are finding yourself with the ominous chore of pulling together the records for your tax appointment. The difficultly of this task depends upon how well you maintained your tax records throughout the year. No matter how good your record keeping was, arriving at your tax appointment fully prepared will give us more time to:

  • Consider every possible legal deduction;
  • Evaluate which income reporting methods and deductions are best suited to your situation;
  • Explore current law changes that are affecting your tax status; and
  • Talk about tax-planning alternatives that could reduce your future tax liability.
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Posted in Tax Central | Tagged Tax Planning, Tax Reform

Big Tax Changes for Divorce Decrees after 2018

Lake Wylie Tax Service | Bookkeeping | Payroll Service Posted on January 5, 2019 by Lake Wylie Tax Services StaffJanuary 23, 2020

Taxes and DivorceWelcome to 2019 and a delayed provision of the tax reform, also known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). For divorce agreements entered into after December 31, 2018, or pre-existing agreements that are modified after that date to expressly provide that alimony received is not included in the recipient’s income, alimony will no longer be deductible by the payer and won’t be income to the recipient.

This is in stark contrast to the treatment of alimony payments under decrees entered into and finalized before the end of 2018, for which alimony will continue to be deductible by the payer and income to the recipient.

Having the alimony treated one way for one segment of the population and the exact opposite for another group of individuals seems unfair and may ultimately make its way into the court system. But in the meantime, parties to a divorce action need to be aware of the change and compensate for it in their divorce negotiations, for a decree entered into after 2018.

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Posted in Life Events, Tax Central | Tagged Divorce, Tax Reform

When To Claim a Disaster Loss

Lake Wylie Tax Service | Bookkeeping | Payroll Service Posted on December 3, 2018 by Lake Wylie Tax Services StaffJanuary 23, 2020

Disaster Loss Claim for TaxesTax reform eliminated the deduction for casualty losses but did retain a deduction for losses within a disaster area. With the wild fires in the west, hurricanes and flooding in the southeast and eastern seaboard we have had a number of presidentially declared disaster areas this year. If you were an unlucky victim and suffered a loss as a result of a disaster, you may be able to recoup a portion of that loss through a tax deduction. If the casualty occurred within a federally declared disaster area, you can elect to claim the loss in one of two years: the tax year in which the loss occurred or the immediately preceding year.

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Posted in Tax Central | Tagged 2018 Tax Reform, Tax Deduction, Tax Reform

Tax Reform Infographic

Lake Wylie Tax Service | Bookkeeping | Payroll Service Posted on October 15, 2018 by Lake Wylie Tax Services StaffJanuary 23, 2020

2018 Tax ReformWith so much confusion regarding tax reform, we put together a side by side comparison of the old and new law.

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Posted in 2018 Tax Law Changes, Tax & Legal Changes | Tagged Tax Reform

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