The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law on December 22, 2017. The Act makes several fundamental changes to the tax structure for individuals and businesses. Most changes for individuals are effective only for tax years 2018 through 2025. Below are some of the key provisions of the new law. Standard Deductions, Exemptions,…
Year-End Tax Planning
As 2016 draws to a close it’s time to turn our attention to some year-end tax to-do tasks. In many ways this year is no different than any other – the same conventional wisdom applies as it always has in the past: less tax is better tax. Here’s some conventional (tax) wisdom to help you…
2015 Extenders and More
The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act contains many of the traditional “extenders” that Congress has been passing over the last several years. The “extenders” are a group of taxpayer-friendly provisions of the tax code which have been allowed to expire every year or so by Congress and then (sometimes at the last minute)…
No COD Income on California Short Sales!
Cancellation of debt (COD) income has been a surprise to many people who lost their homes in a foreclosure or a have had a short sale. COD income occurs when there is a recourse loan on a property, the property is foreclosed upon and the lender relieves the debtor of any balance due on the…
Stopping the Most Common Tax Return Error
The most common error we find on tax returns is incorrect or missing estimated tax payments. We all do our best to keep track of the date and amount of our estimates, but when there is a difference between the amount of estimated taxes claimed on a tax return and the amount in the IRS…