The quick answer is April 15th (April 17th in Maine and Massachusetts). Yep, Monday. You have less than a week to dig through all that odd tax mail that was sent to you, dig up all those charitable receipts, and figure out how to organize it all for a whole new Tax Code. Yes, the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 is officially 100% applied to your 2018 Tax Return. This act made big changes to forms, brackets, rates, deductions, so everything. The good news is instead of paying in 90% of current year taxes over the year to avoid penalty, the IRS has dropped this to 80% to help out all those that were confused by a massive tax overhaul (so everyone).

I am not making you feel better it still all sounds overwhelming and confusing? I think all of your tax paying friends and neighbors would agree. Want to know a secret? It’s not as bad as you think.

Unless you own a company, invest in some hedge funds, basically anything that would generate a K-1 then you have totally got this. (Don’t know what a K-1 is? Good. It means you likely don’t have any nor need any). Complicated returns = BIG returns. I know people who have returns that are thousands of pages long. Those people need a CPA for sure, but do you?

You may not even itemize this year. The standard deduction basically doubled from $6,350 to $12,000 for a Single Filer and for Married filing jointly it went from $12,700 to $24,000! That means if you are married, you would need more than $24,000 in itemized deductions to even need to fill out that page. They justified this big standard deduction, by getting rid of personal exemptions which previously was $4,050 per family member (so if you have kids like me, this isn’t such a great deal).

The itemized deductions that have gone away are:

• Moving expenses
• Interest in a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) (You can still deduct your mortgage interest on your primary or secondary residence)
• State Tax state (Sales/Property/ income/Car) is capped at $10,000, no deduction for paying Alimony (and no tax on alimony if you receive it)
• Casualty and Theft (House broken into in 2017 you could deduct your loss, but not if it happened in 2018)
• No more miscellaneous expenses, including:
  Tax prep fees
  Investment advisory fees
  Unreimbursed work expenses (travel, parking, meals, and entertaining)
  Depreciation on phone or computer required for work
  Investment expenses
  Job search expenses
  Professional Journals
  Continuing Education or Costs for Certifications

Why does this matter? Well if you are only taking the Standard Deduction and you aren’t even itemizing, then you can throw away those goodwill receipts and any paperwork relating to your business expenses or mortgage or just all that stuff you saved hoping it could be deducted. Your return just got WAY less complicated.

Have you ever looked at Turbo Tax or Tax Act? Programs like these baby step you through your return for far cheaper than a CPA. You do not pay until the end, so you can start the program and if you still feel out of your league then you can still get a CPA with no money lost. Turbo Tax even has live CPA help as you work! (Consumer Reports has put out a warning that not all commercial tax programs are up to date, so I would probably stick to these 2. I feel like I say this a lot in my blogs, but cheaper does not always equal better.)

If you make under $66,000, the IRS has a free program you can use!

Really truly feel you need in person help? You can find a CPA on the IRS website. Think you cannot afford one, but still want to talk to someone there are free programs like AARP Foundation Tax-Aide and The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. These programs help elderly and low to mid-income individuals.

I am always wary of the Commercial Tax Preparers you see in strip malls. I won’t say names, but ask the individuals who work there what kind of tax training they have, and how long they have been preparing taxes. You may find they are just like you with some training from the company only. You may get a good one, but I would stick with someone from the IRS CPA Search website above.

Still feel completely unprepared? You can use any of the above programs or a CPA to file an extension. Here is the form if you are feeling really tax savvy. Then you get to procrastinate until Oct. 15th deadline! If you do file an extension, you will not be alone. The IRS is expecting 14.6 Million extensions this year. Just remember you still have to pay whatever it is you owe by April 15th, and to figure that out, you basically need to complete your tax return.

Again, you got this! Just get on one of the above programs, find or call your CPA (who has probably been hounding you since March), and get those taxes filed!

This is not meant to be tax advice. This blog is for entertainment purposes only. Please see a certified tax preparer or CPA for questions related to your personal tax situation. I am not compensated by any website mentioned above these are simply programs I use and like.