Rushing to file taxes can result in errors
April 10, 2019Starting with Tax Year 2018 (Jan.-Dec. 2018), tax forms and schedules are changing due to Tax Reform. Tax Forms as we know them are being cut off and split up in schedules.
The House (again) approved the final version of the most sweeping rewrite of the tax code in more than 30 years. The tax bill previously passed the House — it was a 227-203 vote, no Democrats supported the bill — on Dec. 19. Then, the Senate passed the final version of the $1.5 trillion tax bill in the early hours of the morning Wednesday, Dec. 20. The vote was 51-48 along party lines.
Officially, the new name of the bill is “An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018”, but it’s been called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act since it was introduced back in November 2017. The Senate parliamentarian ruled the bill’s name and two other provisions — one that would have allowed parents to pay for homeschooling with money from 529 savings accounts and another that was part of criteria used to determine which colleges would qualify for a new excise tax — had to change else the bill would violate the budget rules Senate Republicans have to follow to pass their bill through a process that prevents Democrats from filibustering.
What’s changing— and what isn’t
- 529 college savings plans
- ACA individual mandate
- Alimony
- Alternative minimum tax
- Bicycle commuting
- Child tax credit
- Corporate taxes
- Estate taxes
- Gains made on home sales
- Medical expenses
- Miscellaneous tax deductions
- Mortgage and home equity loan interest deduction
- Moving expenses
- Pass-through businesses
- Personal casualty or theft
- Personal exemptions
- Standard deductions
- State and local tax (SALT) deduction
- Student loan debt discharge
- Tax brackets and income taxes