The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 expands the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for Tax Years 2021, which means the credit for qualifying children is fully refundable and taxpayers can benefit from the credit even if you do not have earned income or don’t owe any income taxes. The credit will also include children… [keep reading…]
Category: Tax
New York State Tax Treatment of Unemployment Compensation
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 enacted by Congress allows certain individuals to exclude up to $10,200 of unemployment compensation on their 2020 federal personal tax returns. New York State recently issued guidance indicating that the state is decoupled from this federal law, and therefore any unemployment compensation that is excluded from federal gross… [keep reading…]
Tax Planning Ideas for Businesses & Individuals
With tax year 2020 coming to a close here are some tax planning ideas for Businesses & Individuals Business Planning Review your accounting method: Businesses typically use either an accrual method of accounting or the cash basis. Under an accrual method, income and expense is recognized when: 1) All events have occurred to deduct the… [keep reading…]
New Form for 2020
New for 2020 – the IRS has created a new Form for 2020 to report Miscellaneous Compensation only – This is Form 1099 NEC (Non-Employee Compensation). The 1099 MISC. has been revised and box numbers rearranged and is still applicable for other reporting. To get more information about the 1099-NEC please view it HERE. You… [keep reading…]
Thinking about moving to another state in retirement? Don’t forget about taxes
When you retire, you may consider moving to another state — say, for the weather or to be closer to your loved ones. Don’t forget to factor state and local taxes into the equation. Establishing residency for state tax purposes may be more complicated than it initially appears to be. Identify all applicable taxes It… [keep reading…]
Stretch your college student’s spending money with the dependent tax credit
If you’re the parent of a child who is age 17 to 23, and you pay all (or most) of his or her expenses, you may be surprised to learn you’re not eligible for the child tax credit. But there’s a dependent tax credit that may be available to you. It’s not as valuable as… [keep reading…]
Some of your deductions may be smaller (or nonexistent) when you file your 2018 tax return
While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) reduces most income tax rates and expands some tax breaks, it limits or eliminates several itemized deductions that have been valuable to many individual taxpayers. Here are five deductions you may see shrink or disappear when you file your 2018 income tax return: 1. State and local… [keep reading…]
3 Big TCJA changes affecting 2018 individual tax returns and beyond
When you file your 2018 income tax return, you’ll likely find that some big tax law changes affect you — besides the much-discussed tax rate cuts and reduced itemized deductions. For 2018 through 2025, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) makes significant changes to personal exemptions, standard deductions and the child credit. The degree… [keep reading…]
Investment interest expense is still deductible, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll benefit
As you likely know by now, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) reduced or eliminated many deductions for individuals. One itemized deduction the TCJA kept intact is for investment interest expense. This is interest on debt used to buy assets held for investment, such as margin debt used to buy securities. But if you… [keep reading…]
What will your marginal income tax rate be?
While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) generally reduced individual tax rates for 2018 through 2025, some taxpayers could see their taxes go up due to reductions or eliminations of certain tax breaks — and, in some cases, due to their filing status. But some may see additional tax savings due to their filing… [keep reading…]