Category: Individual Tax

The new tax law increases the limit on cash contributions to public charities and certain private foundations from 50% to 60% of AGI. That being said; the law also increased the standard deduction, in fact it almost doubled. The higher standard deduction along with the capp...

The new federal tax law reduces the limit on home acquisition debt to $750,000. For married taxpayers filing separately, the debt limit is halved to $375,000. In addition the law generally disallows home equity debt interest. Although, home equity interest paid on home equit...

Under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act certain future alimony payments will no longer be deductible by the payer. Also, alimony will no longer be considered income to the recipient. Therefore, for divorces and legal separations that are executed (that come into legal existence due t...

People have been sharing their homes for ages, but it has become much more popular with the rise of the sharing economy and the recent coining of the phrase “House Hacking,” which describes renting out extra rooms in your home, or renting part of a multi-family home whil...

Are meals and entertainment expenses still deductible under the 2018 tax bill?  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) brings with it many changes in the taxation of businesses and individuals, including a change in the tax deductibility of meals and entertainment (M&E) expenses....

The pieces of tax legislation garnering the most attention these days are the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) signed into law last December and the possible “Tax Reform 2.0” that Congress might pass this fall. But for certain individual taxpayers, what happens with “exten...

I love my dog, Shea. I think of her as my child, but she has never given me any tax benefits. If you have an actual child, you always love them, but even a little more when it’s time to file taxes. This is because you’re able to claim them as a dependent, which meant a r...

My favorite IRS program - the Streamlined Disclosure Program - is going away September 28th so I had to write about it one more time. The past 10 years have seen a dramatic increase in the awareness and enforcement for the rules relating to foreign bank accounts. US citizens...

Highlights of the federal tax reform affecting individuals includes lower individual rates, and changes to the standard deduction, exemptions, medical expenses, charitable contributions, child tax credits, home mortgage interest and other items, described in this blog post....

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — One of the biggest items facing a veto in the Minnesota Legislature is the state tax bill.The bill lines up our taxes with the new Federal law so that at least 800,000 Minnesotans don’t end up paying more. WCCO asked CPA Chris Wittich to give us ...