Log in

View Full Version : Tax FYI



fitz19d
02-14-2018, 13:14
I was unaware that pmi was gone, but nice to have another year. Wonder what other beneficial changes got extended?


https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4240276-pmi-the-new-budget-signed-today-february-9th-extends-the-mortgage-insurance-deduction-through-the-end-of-2017-when-will-this-be-reflected-in-turbotax

Gman
02-14-2018, 13:51
This may not be a good year to file early. The IRS is still trying to figure out the details.

DenverGP
02-14-2018, 17:35
Edit: I didn't realize they tacked on things that effected the 2017 taxes (just extensions of various things that they didn't bother extending soon for some reason)

Most of the changes only effect the the 2018 taxes you file in 2019.

brutal
02-15-2018, 01:24
There was some rumors the RV interest deduction was going away, but I've not seen anything official.

Sure hope not, just ordered a new one 5 weeks ago and will be closing in a few weeks.

Rumline
02-15-2018, 15:15
There was some rumors the RV interest deduction was going away, but I've not seen anything official.

Sure hope not, just ordered a new one 5 weeks ago and will be closing in a few weeks.
According to this: http://rvtravel.com/towable-rv-owners-lose-benefit-new-tax-bill/ they added the requirement that the RV must be self-propelled in order to qualify for the deduction. So travel trailer owners are SOL unless RVIA has enough lobbying $$$ to get that "self-propelled" thing removed.

Skip
02-15-2018, 15:16
Remember though, everyone's standard deduction doubled. If you are married, unless you making money hand over fist, it will be hard to exceed 24,000 in itemized deductions even under the (2017) rules if they were still available next year. To take deductions, you have to exceed the standard deduction. So for most people, it simplifies their taxes where they can stop even counting, file EZ, and still come out ahead.

^ THIS

Save your 2017 1040 and plan for 2018.

Standard deduction, with the $10K SALT cap, really nullifies a lot of the advantage of common deductions going forward.

I'm wondering why I should keep paying mortgage interest and I don't really pay that much.

Ridge
02-15-2018, 19:05
I got my return 8 days after they accepted my filing.

Already gone, paying off debt.

Irving
02-15-2018, 19:13
I just now got my last tax document today.

fitz19d
02-15-2018, 20:20
^ THIS

Save your 2017 1040 and plan for 2018.

Standard deduction, with the $10K SALT cap, really nullifies a lot of the advantage of common deductions going forward.

I'm wondering why I should keep paying mortgage interest and I don't really pay that much.

I remember the salt thing was something to piss dems off more? But I don't know the details. Also new higher standard deduction applies to filing for 2017??

I need to run it every which way to be sure I guess. But trying to work out whats better filing singly or jointly with wife. Basically 60k gross roughly each, mortgage payment. I have like 3k in medical bills last year. If standard deduction change I suppose that would be hard to exceed with various taxes/pmi/interest/medical. Unless maybe I'm doing something like claiming the house and everything else that is mine to exceed my deduction singly, then give her her portion of the refund from house stuff?

PS I hate taxes.

DenverGP
02-15-2018, 20:55
I remember the salt thing was something to piss dems off more? But I don't know the details. Also new higher standard deduction applies to filing for 2017??


Salt is "State and local taxes"... Tax payers in the dem controlled cities/states with stupidly high state and local taxes didn't really feel the pain because they could deduct all the state/local taxes they paid from their federal taxes. So basically the dem cities/states were stealing tax money from the federal government. Now residents of those cities/states will feel the pain of those higher taxes.

And no, the higher standard deductions won't come into play until you file taxes next year.

brutal
02-15-2018, 23:02
I remember the salt thing was something to piss dems off more? But I don't know the details. Also new higher standard deduction applies to filing for 2017??

I need to run it every which way to be sure I guess. But trying to work out whats better filing singly or jointly with wife. Basically 60k gross roughly each, mortgage payment. I have like 3k in medical bills last year. If standard deduction change I suppose that would be hard to exceed with various taxes/pmi/interest/medical. Unless maybe I'm doing something like claiming the house and everything else that is mine to exceed my deduction singly, then give her her portion of the refund from house stuff?

PS I hate taxes.

I hate paying SO MUCH tax.

Irving
02-15-2018, 23:27
I hate paying SO MUCH tax.

I only saved about half of what I owe for last year. Ooops.

Skip
02-16-2018, 09:49
I remember the salt thing was something to piss dems off more? But I don't know the details. Also new higher standard deduction applies to filing for 2017??

I need to run it every which way to be sure I guess. But trying to work out whats better filing singly or jointly with wife. Basically 60k gross roughly each, mortgage payment. I have like 3k in medical bills last year. If standard deduction change I suppose that would be hard to exceed with various taxes/pmi/interest/medical. Unless maybe I'm doing something like claiming the house and everything else that is mine to exceed my deduction singly, then give her her portion of the refund from house stuff?

PS I hate taxes.

Yes, running scenarios is very smart! I do this myself just using MS Excel. Most years the IRS publishes a "draft" 1040 in Oct--but that is late to make a lot of changes. Who knows what they'll do for 2018 though.

SALT cap is designed to limit the amount of tax shifted from the Fed to high tax states like CA and NY. In a sense, the Fed is subsidizing these states (and since there's no such thing as states' rights in 2018, why is that okay?).

I don't think many in CO would be impacted. If you had property and ownership taxes of $2,500 (which is high), you would be limited to $7,500 of income tax deduction which is ~$162,000 AGI. Most of us won't be hurt!

Eric P
02-16-2018, 13:51
In my opinion, the tax code need even further simplification.

Gross Income minus a standard deduction to get taxable income. The standard deduction is the same for everyone. In a family, you get a deduction for each individual. Taxable income could never be less than $0.00.

Take taxable income and multiply it by X%. Same for everyone. Eliminate separate SS, medicare, ect. taxes. Just 1 fixed income tax bracket. Or go to national sales tax.

Thats it.

Taxes should never be used to persuade economic choices. No deductions for solar panels or gun parts...

If you want to give to charity, fine. Don't ask everyone else to subsidize your giving by paying more in taxes. Want a house, fin, do it without the rest of us subsidizing it.

CS1983
02-16-2018, 14:35
And there you have it folks, the slippery slope being normalized such that halfway to hell is default; where that which until ~ 105 years ago was seen as unconstitutional is now seen as a paleo-conservative wet dream fantasy.

NFATrustGuy
02-16-2018, 14:36
In my opinion, the tax code need even further simplification.

Gross Income minus a standard deduction to get taxable income. The standard deduction is the same for everyone. In a family, you get a deduction for each individual. Taxable income could never be less than $0.00.

Take taxable income and multiply it by X%. Same for everyone. Eliminate separate SS, medicare, ect. taxes. Just 1 fixed income tax bracket. Or go to national sales tax.

Thats it.

Taxes should never be used to persuade economic choices. No deductions for solar panels or gun parts...

If you want to give to charity, fine. Don't ask everyone else to subsidize your giving by paying more in taxes. Want a house, fin, do it without the rest of us subsidizing it.

If we’re really trying for tax equality, why should a person with children pay LESS than a person with no children?

Want children, fin, do it without the rest of us subsidizing it.

Eric P
02-16-2018, 15:13
If we’re really trying for tax equality, why should a person with children pay LESS than a person with no children?

Want children, fin, do it without the rest of us subsidizing it.

I agree with that also.

CS1983
02-16-2018, 15:17
Or... just ixnay the whole income tax and force the fed to focus on their piece of the pie by either special votes as actually needed and/or tariffs, etc. The argument put forth by Eric P and NFAtrustGuy is analogous to a group of doctors discussing whether the morbidly obese patient in front of them should eat only 4 large pizzas a day instead of 8. He shouldn't be eating any large pizzas.

But it's not about the nail, right ladies?
:)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O11_Ma20Rk

Skip
11-01-2018, 20:04
Zombie thread bump!!!

[panic]


I would recommend everyone take a look at the new 1040 (draft) while you can do some year end planning...

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/f1040--dft.pdf

All 1040 drafts here...

https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/draftTaxForms.html?value=1040&criteria=formNumber&submitSearch=Find


This stuff isn't exciting but it is going to hit a lot of taxpayers. Exemptions are gone. Standard Deduction is $12,000/24,000 which will help a bit. Don't forget the $10K SALT limit.

Rates are down which is nice but depending on your dependents this could result in more taxes due.

Spent some time today working up my "mock" 1040 to see where I am. It's saving me a bit because some of the changes net out to my benefit but I can see how this could be bad for some scenarios.

Overall the 1040 is getting closer to what tax reformers have said it should be; much more simple and intuitive.

Bailey Guns
11-01-2018, 20:37
I'm definitely gonna use that draft form to work up an estimate just for grins.

hollohas
11-02-2018, 14:49
Based on the draft 1040 and estimated year-end income, my effective tax rate should go down about 1% over last year. That's a win if it holds true.

Bailey Guns
11-04-2018, 20:16
I just did a preview of 2018 taxes on THIS CALCULATOR (https://www.taxformcalculator.com/).

It's a mixture of good and bad news. Good news? We made more this year. Bad news? That 22% bracket is killer. Our effective rate last year was about 10.6% (on taxable income). This year it's gonna be right around 14%.

Gman
11-04-2018, 20:43
I just did a preview of 2018 taxes on THIS CALCULATOR (https://www.taxformcalculator.com/).

It's a mixture of good and bad news. Good news? We made more this year. Bad news? That 22% bracket is killer. Our effective rate last year was about 10.6% (on taxable income). This year it's gonna be right around 14%.
The more you make, the more you pay...until you make enough to be able to use offsets and shelters.

Had a great meeting with our rep at Fidelity about mid-year to make sure we were on-track with our retirement planning. He was able to point out that we could save about $8K in taxes by increasing my 401K contributions to drop our taxable income to a lower bracket. I'd rather pay myself than hand it over to the Feds.

brutal
11-04-2018, 21:53
I just did a preview of 2018 taxes on THIS CALCULATOR (https://www.taxformcalculator.com/).

It's a mixture of good and bad news. Good news? We made more this year. Bad news? That 22% bracket is killer. Our effective rate last year was about 10.6% (on taxable income). This year it's gonna be right around 14%.

Afraid to look.

This (likely) and the market dip is killing me softly.