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This week the IRS released inflation adjustments for the 2019 tax year. 

The standard deduction for married filing jointly taxpayers is increasing $400 to $24,400. It will be $12,200 ($200 increase) and $18,350 ($350 increase) for single and head of household taxpayers, respectively.
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Last week the IRS released Notice 2018-83 which provides cost of living adjustments for retirement plans for 2019. 
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Dana Bull, CPA •

Age 62. The magic age at which you become eligible to start receiving social security benefits. But should you? There are many complexities when it comes to Social Security and understanding the rules for collecting Social Security can help you take advantage of the retirement benefits to which you are entitled. I will outline some of the considerations for when to begin receiving Social Security benefits.
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Janet Choquette, EA •

In reading my blog heading, you may be thinking “Why would I bother to even read this? I have no need to know about Trusts.” Or do you? And my answer would be “YES!“ You should have some basic understanding of the uses of Trusts and whether or not there would be any benefit in creating a Trust at this point in your life. While there are many types of Trusts and several reasons for creating a Trust, a basic understanding of Trusts can be helpful to determine if you should speak to your accountant and/or attorney to assist in planning for the future. As Baby Boomers and early year Generation X’s are now in their 50’s and 60’s, a midlife plan should not only include a medical checkup but a financial one as well. This should include reviewing your future financial situation/needs during your retirement years and any estate planning you may want to consider. And this is where Trusts could come into play.
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Pollyanna King, CPA, MST •

The new tax law is all the buzz for tax advisors. And toddler education is on my mind.
 
That’s because one snip-it of the tax law change is the expanded coverage under 529 plans to help families with planned education expenses. Starting on January 1, 2018 you can have a 529 savings plan with qualified distributions for lower education, such at the elementary or middle school levels. It’s true. 

The Social Security Administration recently released their updated fact sheet for 2019.

The updates include: 

Have you heard about the changes to the kiddie tax as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017? If you have children age 24 or younger they could be subject to the kiddie tax if they have unearned income. 
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Pollyanna King, CPA, MST •

According to the IRS, your nanny is just one person out of a handful of people found in the category of “household employees”. Your housekeeper, gardener, babysitter, nanny, caretaker, private nurse and maid (if you are so lucky) are all your employees, if you direct them (like a boss) and they work for you at your home. 
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Karyn Richardson, CPA •

The passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017, especially the new Internal Revenue Code Section 199A, has created a lot of buzz in the business community. In simple terms, the new provision allows pass-through entities (Sole Proprietorships, S Corporations, and Partnerships) to deduct 20% of the earned business income on the owner’s individual tax return. However, with tax law, nothing is that simple, as there are many exceptions and income limitations. There remains many unanswered questions, as little to no guidance has been released from the Internal Revenue Service to date. 

Nora Tellifson, CPA •

While much remains to be hammered out and confusion abounds relative to some of the 2018 tax law changes, especially with regard to small businesses, the changes for the Average Joe are fairly clear. Let’s agree on who is an Average Joe. If you receive an average W2, you have some average kids and you live in an average house with your average spouse (I see myself getting into a lot of trouble here.), you’re probably an Average Joe. Here’s a look at some of the significant tax law changes for you.