Returning Value Blog

Understanding the implications of the Tax Reform Act will be critical in business planning for 2018. The Act placed stricter limits on what businesses can deduct for meals and entertainment and suspended the exclusion of moving expenses from an employee’s income.  Please see the tables below comparing the rules before and after the Act.

Along with tax rate reductions and a new deduction for pass-through qualified business income, the new tax law brings the reduction or elimination of tax deductions for certain business expenses. Two expense areas where the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changes the rules — and not to businesses’ benefit — are meals/entertainment and transportation. In effect, the reduced tax benefits will mean these expenses are more costly to a business’s bottom line.

Protection under annual gift-tax exclusion

Did you make gifts to family members in 2017? As long as the gifts did not exceed the limits for the annual gift-tax exclusion, you should have no federal gift-tax worries. You do not even have to file a gift-tax return. And the annual gift-tax exclusion limit, which has not budged in five years, is finally going up in 2018.

While many provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will save businesses tax, the new law also reduces or eliminates some tax breaks for businesses. One break it eliminates is the Section 199 deduction, commonly referred to as the “manufacturers’ deduction.” When it’s available, this potentially valuable tax break can be claimed by many types of businesses beyond just manufacturing companies. Under the TCJA, 2017 is the last tax year noncorporate taxpayers can take the deduction (2018 for C corporation taxpayers).

Although the drop of the corporate tax rate from a top rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21% may be one of the most talked about provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), C corporations aren’t the only type of entity significantly benefiting from the new law. Owners of noncorporate “pass-through” entities may see some major — albeit temporary — relief in the form of a new deduction for a portion of qualified business income (QBI).

One sure sign that spring is coming: It is time to prepare to file your annual tax return. You can alleviate some of the usual stress if you have your 2017 return professionally prepared, but you still have some work to do. Here are seven practical suggestions to help you spring into action: 

Here is a brief look at how the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act bill affects individuals.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enhances some tax breaks for businesses while reducing or eliminating others. One break it enhances — temporarily — is bonus depreciation. While most TCJA provisions go into effect for the 2018 tax year, you might be able to benefit from the bonus depreciation enhancements when you file your 2017 tax return.

The tax reform bill approved by Congress will take effect January 1, 2018, and your paycheck will be affected, but at this point, you may have to wait until February to see the change.

On December 22, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act bill into law.  The bill will impact virtually every individual and business on a level not seen in over 30 years. We have attached a summary of the key provisions.