The new tax season just opened and it will involve all the changes made in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Many things changed under the new law – alimony payments, the standard deduction, moving expense deductions and elimination of the personal exemption. Also, the new form 1040 is quite a bit shorter than the previous edition. While there were also changes in the tax tables, the big story is that fewer people will be eligible for the itemized deduction and will therefore take the standard deduction. This means that your charitable contributions, which prior to 2017 were part of itemized deductions will not provide you any tax benefit in 2018-2025 returns. For businesses, there is a major curtailment of the deduction for entertainment expenses and tax free property exchanges under code section 1031. These will be covered in additional blog posts so stay tuned!
Hopefully the government will stay open after February 15th so that this tax season runs smoothly for all involved!