Tax Reform Tax Reform Bill Passed: Here’s What It Means for You Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Written by TurboTaxBlogTeam Published Dec 20, 2017 - [Updated Jul 3, 2019] 4 min read This post can be found en Español here. Updated Dec. 22, 2017: Today the President signed the tax reform bill into law. Remember for most people, the bill doesn’t affect their taxes for 2017 (the ones they file in 2018). Check back with the TurboTax blog as we continue to keep you up to date with the latest tax news. Today Congress passed the largest piece of tax reform legislation in more than three decades. The bill will affect the taxes of most taxpayers, but one key point to keep in mind is that for most people, the bill doesn’t affect their taxes for 2017 (the ones they file in 2018). If you’re wondering how you’re affected, not to worry, we have your back. We’re doing the work to make sure our products are up to date and that you can use them to file your taxes with complete confidence. That said, many folks are wondering what’s in the bill and how it might affect them. Here’s a recap of some of the major tax provisions in the new tax bill and how they may impact you. Lower Tax Rates and Changed Income Ranges The bill retains the seven tax brackets found in current law, but lowers a number of the tax rates. It also changes the income thresholds at which the rates apply. The current brackets are: 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35% and 39.6% The new brackets will be: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37% The income thresholds at which these brackets kick in have changed, as well. For Married Joint Filers: For Single Filers: Alternative Minimum Tax Exemptions Increased The bill also eases the burden of the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) by raising the income exempted from $84,500 (adjusted for inflation( to $109,400 married filing jointly and from $54,300 (adjusted for inflation) to $70,300 for single taxpayers, so fewer taxpayers will pay it. Tax Relief for Individuals and Families Increased Standard Deduction: The new tax law nearly doubles the standard deduction amount. Single taxpayers will see their standard deductions jump from $6,350 for 2017 taxes to $12,000 for 2018 taxes (the ones you file in 2019). Married couples filing jointly see an increase from $12,700 to $24,000. These increases mean that fewer people will have to itemize. Today, roughly 30% of taxpayers itemize. Under the new law, this percentage is expected to decrease. Increased Child Tax Credit: For, families with children the Child Tax Credit is doubled from $1,000 per child to $2,000. In addition, the amount that is refundable grows from $1,100 to $1,400. The bill also adds a new, non-refundable credit of $500 for dependents other than children. Finally, it raises the income threshold at which these benefits phase out from $110,000 for a married couple to $400,000. Eliminations or Reductions in Deductions Personal and Dependent Exemptions: The bill eliminates the personal and dependent exemptions which are currently $4,050 for 2017 and were expected to increase to $4,150 in 2018. State and Local Taxes/Home Mortgages: The bill limits the amount of state and local property, income, and sales taxes that can be deducted to $10,000. In the past, these taxes have generally been fully tax deductible. The bill also caps the amount of mortgage indebtedness on new home purchases on which interest can be deducted at $750,000 down from $1,000,000 in current law. Health Care: The bill eliminates the tax penalty for not having health insurance. It also temporarily lowers the floor above which out-of-pocket medical expenses can be deducted from the current law floor of 10% to 7.5% for 2017 and 2018 so for 2017 and 2018 you can deduct medical expenses that are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income as opposed to the higher 10%. Self-Employed and Small Business: The bill has a myriad of changes for business. The biggest includes a reduction in the top corporate rate to 21%, a new 20% deduction for incomes from certain type of “pass-through” entities (partnerships, S Corps, sole proprietorships), limits on expensing of interest from borrowing, almost doubling of the amount small businesses can expense from the 2017 Section 179 amount of $510,000 to $1,000,000, and eliminates the corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT). Don’t worry about memorizing these tax changes the majority of which are for 2018 taxes which you file in 2019. TurboTax has you covered and will be up to date with the latest tax laws. If you have more questions while doing your taxes, you can connect live via one-way video to a TurboTax Live CPA or Enrolled Agent to get your tax questions answered and have your return reviewed so you can sign it and file. Previous Post Tax Reform 2017 Bill Finalized: Here’s What Goes to Vote… Next Post How Tax Reform Impacts You [Infographic] Written by TurboTaxBlogTeam More from TurboTaxBlogTeam 21 responses to “Tax Reform Bill Passed: Here’s What It Means for You” W-4 purpose is to let employer know @ what point to start taking fica out- federal tax..also track social security contributions, suta-, pension contributions other items the employer deducted from check or added. Every allowance on w4 was worth $45 could claim up to 9 without proof. Is a controlling form if employee needs more money it can increase allowance if employee thinks its going to owe taxes it can reduced allowances to 0 and have additional tax $ taken out….say your di – disposal income short $50 week you can go increase allowance on w 4 by 6 dependents..gets you $50 extra per pay period… W4 can be used to get prepaid EIC or changes in tax laws recovery of late law changes by Congress. Harold Goffeney CPA Reply Was suspended from work for first month and half and arbitration ruled in my favor but have not paid me for time off yet, supervisor claims HR is dragging heels. Will $6000. Gross pay if not paid before end of 2018 lead to penalry in 2019 or cause me less refund after tax prep? How can I claim money not received for 2018? Reply If I have a 19 year old at home that is in school does this mean I can not claim him Reply I receive Alimony for the first time in 2018. I have no idea how to calculate the federal withholding taxes. Anyone have any answers for me. Ty in advance Reply I do Uber and Lyft part time how will the new tax laws effect me? and I’m looking to take a rep job full time where I have to use my own car, medical and so on. Thank you Michael Reply You file a business return schedule based on 1099 issued by uber lyft. Pay your fica and social security taxes ..1/2 deduction for employer share. Whether ir not you get medical insyrabce credit depends on yoyr business model. Depending on incone loss on business and otger sources of incone you might get additional credits- household situation – kuds-spouse….your mileage deduction , car insurance, deductibke on business side for the business use or you can do recapture depreciation allowances up to 1million..meanibg asset coukd be written off to a certain amount: but a comparison between standard or actual and future use of assets must he made….in otger words..hypothetical say car new coat 20k yoy drove 50k miles …how many mikes fo you plan to drive year 2 n 3? See once you ekect to write off tge asset you normally arenot alliwed to switch from actial to standard…then if you dispose of asset you be looking a5 capital gains but dint worry you can use loops laws – like kind exhange- trade similiar assets unless you accept cash- for sake of tge asset… Harold Goffeney CPA disclaimer turbo tax has np Association for reply …hope it. Helps Reply My 27 year old son is going through Open Enrollment with his job and is not going to elect health insurance in 2019 because he says he can’t afford it the premium. . Of course, I am totally against this, but he’s and adult so I don’t get to vote. Anybody else going through this type of situation? I’ve explained the risks to him, but so far, he’s not changing his mind. Reply Does the 20% deduction from income new tax change benefit me and my husband? We have rental properties and we manage these rentals ourselves. All these properties are under a revocable trust. We have no partnerships. Is there any change we can make so that this 20% deduction can be to our advantage? Reply In the past when I deducted state income taxes, I was required to declare refunds of state income taxes from prior years as income. Since now, my deductions will be limited, can I instead, reduce my state income tax deduction by the amount received as refunds or must I still declare the refunds as income? Reply If filing joint return and itemized deductions are less than $18,500 should I use the short form and just list all sources of revenue and take the standard $24,000 deduction? Then I wouldn’t need Turbo Tax system????? Reply So if the personal exemptions is done away with the what is the purpose of claiming allowances on the W-4? Reply how will this apply to a self employed individual, sole prop who deducts meetings, expenses, entertainment , etc . Reply Last year we were able to itemize close to $28,000. (MFJ) With the new tax reform law in place which is taking away our personal and dependent exemptions, I believe it is going to hurt us by making our tax liability higher. Even though they lowered the tax thresholds. They started taking out less federal taxes on our paycheck which in return again with make our tax liability higher along with not being to take our exemption allowance. Please correct me if I’m wrong. Please advise. Thank you, Lisa Reply Lisa, valid argument .If your itemized deductions remained constant no change probably: but chikd tax credit was increase and age that equals out the loss of the exemptions….but there are loops..so, you have to look at your filing status loops to compensates for dependent deduction loss… If they took less fica out then adjustment needed to be made on w 4…to compensate for tax Reply I would like to know about charitable tax deductions. Is there a separate deduction or is it subject to the $12,000/24,000 deduction? Reply Charity if file on individual is on Schedule A…they have limits on how much..they also required receipts….only if you itemized.. The 24,400 is standard deduction allowed for tax payers if they dont have enough itemized deductions schedule A If taxpayers doesn’t have enough property tax, mortgage interest, charity, points, medical 7.5 AGI or miscellaneous : the sum of itemized is < then it takes 24,400 married filing joint. Harold G , CPA Reply How is the Social Security Disability Insurance income gets now classified; excempt (still the same) or reclassified as taxable income? Do I still need to file taxes if the amount exceeds $12,000 for a single person ? Reply You should file taxes even if pension sudsidy- social security is non taxable. Reason is you want to be accounted for in th3 government and most importantly,if you want buy car, house, or loans and even if the government adds additional benefits – they ask for tax return…plus state block grants from federal government are based on head counts-$2500 per person….or vice versa you can get additional state offered benefits Reply Very helpful, thank you Reply Thank you. Your products are excellent and I would have to pay a lot to have my taxes prepared if it were not for Turbo Tax. Reply THANK YOU! Reply Leave a ReplyCancel reply Browse Related Articles Crypto Understanding Crypto and Capital Gains Work 7 Things You Need to Know About the New Business Report… Work Using Form 8829 to Write-Off Business Use of Your Home Tax Tips Roth 403(b) vs. Roth IRA: Which Should You Invest In? 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W-4 purpose is to let employer know @ what point to start taking fica out- federal tax..also track social security contributions, suta-, pension contributions other items the employer deducted from check or added. Every allowance on w4 was worth $45 could claim up to 9 without proof. Is a controlling form if employee needs more money it can increase allowance if employee thinks its going to owe taxes it can reduced allowances to 0 and have additional tax $ taken out….say your di – disposal income short $50 week you can go increase allowance on w 4 by 6 dependents..gets you $50 extra per pay period… W4 can be used to get prepaid EIC or changes in tax laws recovery of late law changes by Congress. Harold Goffeney CPA Reply
Was suspended from work for first month and half and arbitration ruled in my favor but have not paid me for time off yet, supervisor claims HR is dragging heels. Will $6000. Gross pay if not paid before end of 2018 lead to penalry in 2019 or cause me less refund after tax prep? How can I claim money not received for 2018? Reply
I receive Alimony for the first time in 2018. I have no idea how to calculate the federal withholding taxes. Anyone have any answers for me. Ty in advance Reply
I do Uber and Lyft part time how will the new tax laws effect me? and I’m looking to take a rep job full time where I have to use my own car, medical and so on. Thank you Michael Reply
You file a business return schedule based on 1099 issued by uber lyft. Pay your fica and social security taxes ..1/2 deduction for employer share. Whether ir not you get medical insyrabce credit depends on yoyr business model. Depending on incone loss on business and otger sources of incone you might get additional credits- household situation – kuds-spouse….your mileage deduction , car insurance, deductibke on business side for the business use or you can do recapture depreciation allowances up to 1million..meanibg asset coukd be written off to a certain amount: but a comparison between standard or actual and future use of assets must he made….in otger words..hypothetical say car new coat 20k yoy drove 50k miles …how many mikes fo you plan to drive year 2 n 3? See once you ekect to write off tge asset you normally arenot alliwed to switch from actial to standard…then if you dispose of asset you be looking a5 capital gains but dint worry you can use loops laws – like kind exhange- trade similiar assets unless you accept cash- for sake of tge asset… Harold Goffeney CPA disclaimer turbo tax has np Association for reply …hope it. Helps Reply
My 27 year old son is going through Open Enrollment with his job and is not going to elect health insurance in 2019 because he says he can’t afford it the premium. . Of course, I am totally against this, but he’s and adult so I don’t get to vote. Anybody else going through this type of situation? I’ve explained the risks to him, but so far, he’s not changing his mind. Reply
Does the 20% deduction from income new tax change benefit me and my husband? We have rental properties and we manage these rentals ourselves. All these properties are under a revocable trust. We have no partnerships. Is there any change we can make so that this 20% deduction can be to our advantage? Reply
In the past when I deducted state income taxes, I was required to declare refunds of state income taxes from prior years as income. Since now, my deductions will be limited, can I instead, reduce my state income tax deduction by the amount received as refunds or must I still declare the refunds as income? Reply
If filing joint return and itemized deductions are less than $18,500 should I use the short form and just list all sources of revenue and take the standard $24,000 deduction? Then I wouldn’t need Turbo Tax system????? Reply
So if the personal exemptions is done away with the what is the purpose of claiming allowances on the W-4? Reply
how will this apply to a self employed individual, sole prop who deducts meetings, expenses, entertainment , etc . Reply
Last year we were able to itemize close to $28,000. (MFJ) With the new tax reform law in place which is taking away our personal and dependent exemptions, I believe it is going to hurt us by making our tax liability higher. Even though they lowered the tax thresholds. They started taking out less federal taxes on our paycheck which in return again with make our tax liability higher along with not being to take our exemption allowance. Please correct me if I’m wrong. Please advise. Thank you, Lisa Reply
Lisa, valid argument .If your itemized deductions remained constant no change probably: but chikd tax credit was increase and age that equals out the loss of the exemptions….but there are loops..so, you have to look at your filing status loops to compensates for dependent deduction loss… If they took less fica out then adjustment needed to be made on w 4…to compensate for tax Reply
I would like to know about charitable tax deductions. Is there a separate deduction or is it subject to the $12,000/24,000 deduction? Reply
Charity if file on individual is on Schedule A…they have limits on how much..they also required receipts….only if you itemized.. The 24,400 is standard deduction allowed for tax payers if they dont have enough itemized deductions schedule A If taxpayers doesn’t have enough property tax, mortgage interest, charity, points, medical 7.5 AGI or miscellaneous : the sum of itemized is < then it takes 24,400 married filing joint. Harold G , CPA Reply
How is the Social Security Disability Insurance income gets now classified; excempt (still the same) or reclassified as taxable income? Do I still need to file taxes if the amount exceeds $12,000 for a single person ? Reply
You should file taxes even if pension sudsidy- social security is non taxable. Reason is you want to be accounted for in th3 government and most importantly,if you want buy car, house, or loans and even if the government adds additional benefits – they ask for tax return…plus state block grants from federal government are based on head counts-$2500 per person….or vice versa you can get additional state offered benefits Reply
Thank you. Your products are excellent and I would have to pay a lot to have my taxes prepared if it were not for Turbo Tax. Reply