Tax reform and how it might affect you

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Tax reform and how it might affect you
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• President Trumps shake up of US tax laws is
  certain to affect you in some way, but the full
  depth of the reforms, are not yet fully
  understood - even by tax professionals - and just
  how the changes will affect individuals, is still
  unclear.
• The new laws will be applicable to 2018s taxes,
  and as the new bills are passed and become laws,
  here are a few things that you should know
• Changes to individual and corporate tax rates
• New legislation affecting individual tax rates is
  expected to be continued past the 2025 expiration
  date, and most of the corporate tax provisions
  are now permanent.

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• Tax brackets
• A total of 7 tax brackets are still applicable,
  and Americans will continue to find themselves
  placed in one of them, based upon their income.
  However, some of the rates for certain brackets
  have been reduced and the new rates are, 10,
  12, 22, 24, 32, 35 and 37
• Deductions
• Standard deductions have almost doubled, and for
  single filers, the standard deduction is now at
  12,000 instead of 6,350, and for married
  couples who file together, deductions have gone
  from 12,700 to 24,000.

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• Personal exemptions
• Prior to the recent tax reforms, you could lower
  your taxable income by claiming a 4,050 personal
  exemption for yourself, your spouse and each
  dependant that you may have, but this is no
  longer possible. For many families, these changes
  to personal exemption will either reduce or
  negate the tax relief that they would otherwise
  get from the reform package.
• S.A.L.T.
• State and local tax deductions, or S.A.L.T, are
  set to stay for those who file itemized taxes,
  but there is now a 10,000 cap in place, whereas
  previously filers

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• were able to deduct an unlimited amount for local
  and state property taxes, plus income or sales
  taxes.
• Child tax credits
• Tax credits for children under the age of 17 have
  now doubled to 2,000, and are now available to
  more people in full. Single parents earning up to
  200,000 can now claim the whole credit, and
  those who are married and make up to 400,000.

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• A temporary 500 credit can now also be claimed
  by taxpayers for dependants who are not classed
  as children, such as those over the age of 17,
  disabled children or even elderly parents.
• Medical deductions
• Deductions for medical expenses have in fact been
  expanded over the past couple of years, and
  during that period filers have been able to
  deduct medical expenses amounting to more than
  7.5 of adjusted gross income. Before this
  period, most Americans could make medical
  deductions totalling 10 of their adjusted gross
  income.

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• There are of course, many more changes to tax
  laws that will come into play as the year goes
  on, and despite President Trump stating that tax
  professionals would go out of business after the
  reforms due to the simplicity of the new tax
  system, this will not prove true for some time to
  come, if at all. There are still many deductions
  to figure out and credits to make sense of, and
  for small businesses, tax filing could become
  even more complex than before.
• If youre a small business owner and are
  struggling to make sense of the new tax laws,
  dont wait until its too late contact your
  local tax professional and seek advice and
  guidance well in advance of the new tax year.

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• At Heyer Associates, we proactively assist our
  individual and small business clients in meeting
  their goals. Our key area of focus is ensuring
  that our clients remain compliant with federal
  and state tax laws by providing them with high
  quality accounting and tax service Coral Gables.
  If you are looking for individual tax preparation
  in Miami, Heyer Associates would be a right
  option.