An old saying that was always thrown around when I grew up was, “There are only two things guaranteed in life – death and taxes.” Oh, you’ve heard that one before? Because it continues to ring true today; perhaps you were haunted by the filing of your 2018 tax return and want to exorcise the unquiet spirits of taxes past. As of 2018 the new tax law commonly known as The TCJA (Tax Cut and Jobs Act) was implemented. For the first time in years, many found themselves paying taxes due to this new tax law. It is possible changes could have been executed to prevent unnecessarily paying higher tax filing liabilities. So, what to do now that it’s already November?
Wage Earners
If you are a wage earner, change your withholding immediately, if you haven’t already. Chances are you were reaping the benefits of the reduced payroll tax rates under the TCJA but didn’t realize you needed to recalculate the amount of exemptions being claimed on the Form W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate) and adjust your withholding. Download the new Form W-4 from the IRS Website or seek out your company’s HR personnel.
Itemized Deductions
Many seemed baffled by the itemized deduction (Schedule A) being irrelevant for them this year and took the standard deduction instead. The limitation of SALT deductions (and, no, this is not referring to the seasoning of flavor enhancement), was drastic for those of us living in California. Good news is, there are some in Congress currently working on trying to pass legislation that would eliminate or raise the cap on SALT deductions (*fingers crossed*). There are some strategies to be able to itemize your deductions again, though each situation is unique to the individual tax payer.
To get the most out of your tax planning strategy and take control of the haunting of your taxes past, call our office and set up an appointment today.