IRS Get Ready campaign — take steps now for 2019 tax filing season There are important changes that you need to know before the 2019 filing season begins. The IRS is launching the fall series of "Get Ready" communications and outreach messages to help you take action to file your tax returns timely and accurately next year.
IRS.gov/getready provides information about issues and actions you can take now to be ready to file your 2018 tax return and avoid tax surprises. In addition to news releases that will be issued through the end of the year, IRS developed a new Publication 5307, Tax Reform Basics for Individuals and Families. It’s available on IRS.gov/getready to help you learn about how tax reform may affect your tax return.
In addition to lowering the tax rates, some of the changes in the law that affect individual taxpayers, like you and your family, include:
• increasing the standard deduction, • suspending personal exemptions,
• increasing the child tax credit,
• adding a new credit for other dependents and
• limiting or discontinuing certain deductions.
The Get Ready campaign covers several key areas in addition to tax reform that affects different taxpayer groups. Some taxpayers must renew an expiring Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. And, if you are using a tax software product for the first time you will need your adjusted gross income from your 2017 tax return to validate an electronically filed tax return. Additionally, if you claim and qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit, you may experience a refund hold. By law, the IRS cannot issue refunds before mid-February for tax returns claiming EITC or the ACTC. This applies to the entire refund, even the portion not associated with these credits. You may receive a smaller refund - or even owe an unexpected tax bill – when you file your 2018 tax return next year, especially if you did not adjust your withholding this year after the withholding tables changed. Perform a paycheck checkup to avoid an unwelcome surprise at tax time.
For more information on making estimated or additional tax payments, visit the Pay As You Go, So You Won’t Owe webpage. IRS.gov/getready and Publication 5307 have more information about how tax reform may affect you and your family so you can “Get Ready” to file next year.
Taxation news blog
Friday, November 9, 2018
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Most Common Types of IRS Tax Problems
A notification from the IRS is not something to be ignored. The best step is to take a deep breath, read the notice carefully, and if needed, contact our office for assistance.
Receiving notification from the Internal Revenue Service that there’s some kind of problem is one of the most bone-chilling situations an American taxpayer can experience. Just receiving an envelope with a return address from the IRS can strike fear. There are many different reasons that the IRS might reach out, but some are more common than others.
Here are the top issues that would cause a taxpayer to hear from the IRS or require you to resolve an issue:
Receiving notification from the Internal Revenue Service that there’s some kind of problem is one of the most bone-chilling situations an American taxpayer can experience. Just receiving an envelope with a return address from the IRS can strike fear. There are many different reasons that the IRS might reach out, but some are more common than others.
Here are the top issues that would cause a taxpayer to hear from the IRS or require you to resolve an issue:
- An Error On Your Tax Return – Nobody’s perfect, and filling out tax returns is not an easy thing. If you’ve made a mistake, whether it’s something simple like filing status or number of dependents or something bigger like total income or incorrectly claiming a deduction, if you discover it on your own, all you need to do is file an amended return using form 1040X, the Amended Individual Income Tax Return. If the mistake means that you owe more money, quickly submitting the amount that you owe will help you avoid having to pay too much in penalties or interest. It’s not at all unusual for the IRS to discover mistakes – especially math mistakes – and they will generally notify you that they have made corrections on your behalf.
- Mismatched/Underreported Income – Along the lines of the mistakes referenced above, there is a specific form that the IRS will send you if they determine that the amount of income you report on your tax return is different from what has been reported by employers. That form is the CP2000 Notice, and the agency will send it to you, notifying you of the corrected amount, should they review your return and feel that it is appropriate.
- Failure to File a Tax Return – Filing a tax return isn’t necessarily required if you don’t owe money or if you’re owed a tax refund, but it’s not a good idea. Failing to file a return when you’re owed a refund puts you at risk of losing out on receiving the money you’ve owed – you have just three years to amend the problem if you want to get your money. For those who are in arrears to the IRS, there is a significant negative outcome to failing to file a return, including having to pay a “failure to file” penalty that can go as high as 25 percent of your unpaid tax bill: 5 percent of the amount you owe, plus interest, will be charged for each month for up to five months
- You Owe the IRS for Taxes Not Paid – When the IRS calculates that you have not paid them the full amount that you owe, they will send you notification of what they believe the difference is via form CP14.
- You Owe the IRS Penalties and Fees – When you don’t pay your taxes or you fail to file a return, the IRS will notify you that you owe them penalties, and possibly interest.
- You Owe the IRS But Can’t Afford to Pay – There are many taxpayers who find themselves facing a tax bill that they are simply unable to pay all at once. If you fall into this category, the IRS does offer the option of paying in installments. To request this type of payment plan, contact the agency. If even paying in small increments is outside of your ability, you may be able to negotiate a reduced tax bill through what is called an Offer in Compromise.
- Tax Debt Resulting in Tax Levy – If you are unable or unwilling to satisfy your tax debt, the IRS may opt for a tax levy, which is the legal seizure of your property in lieu of payment. A tax levy can take the form of real property such as real estate, your vehicle or personal property, or your wages, the money in your bank accounts or your financial accounts. Notification that a levy is being issued against you comes via either notice LT11, CP504, CP90, or CP91.
- Notification that A Tax Lien Has Been Filed – If you have failed to pay your tax debt, the IRS may take action to protect its own interests ahead of other creditors by filing a tax lien. This comes in the form of Letter 3172, which will be sent to both you and your other creditors to let them know of the government’s claim against your financial assets, personal property and real estate. By sending this letter out, the government ensures that it will benefit from the liquidation of any of your property in order to satisfy the amount that it is owed. Once a lien has been placed on your property, it is extremely difficult to get out of until you’ve paid up.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Hardship Exemption Rules for Not Having Health Insurance Eased
The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) included a “shared responsibility payment,” which in reality is a penalty for not having health insurance. Along with this penalty came a whole slew of exemptions from the penalty, including some that were designated as “hardship” exemptions. However, the hardship relief from the penalty required pre-approval from the government health insurance marketplace, which required the applicant to provide documentary evidence of the hardship. Once approved, the applicant was issued an exemption certificate number (ECN) that needed to be included on the individual’s tax return to avoid the penalty.
Article Highlights:
- Shared Responsibility Payment
- Executive Order
- Hardship Exemption
- Exemption Certification Number
Hours after being sworn in, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at reversing the Affordable Care Act. The executive order states that the Trump administration will "seek prompt repeal" of the law. To minimize the "economic burden" of Obamacare, the order instructs the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and other agency heads to "waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation" of any part of the law that places a fiscal burden on the government, businesses or individuals.
As a result of President Trump’s executive order, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on September 12, 2018, that consumers can claim a hardship exemption for not purchasing insurance and avoid the penalty for not being insured for 2018, either by:
- Obtaining an ECN through the existing application process or
- Simply entering the hardship code on their federal income tax return (a form of self-certification).
The following are the more common hardship exemptions affected by this change. For a complete list and additional details related to qualifying for these hardships, visit the CMS website.
- Homelessness
- Being evicted or facing eviction or foreclosure
- Receiving a shut-off notice from a utility company
- Experiencing domestic violence
- Death of family member
- Fire, flood or other disaster that caused substantial damage
- Bankruptcy
- Medical expenses that can’t be paid, resulting in substantial debt
- Increased medical expenses to care for a member of the family
- Claiming a child who has been denied Medicaid or CHIP coverage
- Ineligibility for coverage because the state didn’t expand Medicaid
There are a variety of other exemptions in addition to the hardship exemptions, and 2018 is the final year the shared responsibility payment will be assessed. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (tax reform) has eliminated the penalty beginning in 2019.
If you have questions related to the penalty for not having health insurance and the exemptions from being penalized, please call.
Friday, November 2, 2018
Three Common Family Tax Mistakes
When it comes to transactions between family members, the tax laws are frequently overlooked, if not outright trampled upon. The following are three commonly encountered situations and the tax ramifications associated with each.
Article Highlights
Renting to a Relative – When a taxpayer rents a home to a relative for long-term use as a principal residence, the rental’s tax treatment depends upon whether the property is rented at fair rental value (the rental value of comparable properties in the area) or at less than the fair rental value.
Rented at Fair Rental Value – If the home is rented to the relative at a fair rental value, it is treated as an ordinary rental reported on Schedule E, and losses are allowed, subject to the normal passive loss limitations.
Rented at Less Than Fair Rental Value – When a home is rented at less than the fair rental value, it is treated as being used personally by the owner; the expenses associated with the home are not deductible, and no depreciation is allowed. The result is that all of the rental income is fully taxable and reported as “other income” on the 1040. If the taxpayer were able to itemize their deductions, the property taxes on the home would be deductible, subject to the $10,000 cap on state and local taxes effective starting with 2018. The taxpayer might also be able to deduct the interest on the rental home by treating the home as their second home, up to the debt limits on a first and second home.
Possible Gift Tax Issue – There also could be a gift tax issue, depending if the difference between the fair rental value and the rent actually charged to the tenant-relative exceeds the annual gift tax exemption, which is $15,000 for 2018. If the home has more than one occupant, the amount of the difference would be prorated to each occupant, so unless there was a large difference ($15,000 per occupant, in 2018) between the fair rental value and actual rent, or other gifting was also involved, a gift tax return probably wouldn’t be needed in most cases.
Below-Market Loans – It is not uncommon to encounter situations where there are loans between family members, with no interest being charged or the interest rate being below market rates.
A below-market loan is generally a gift or demand loan where the interest rate is less than the applicable federal rate (AFR). The tax code defines the term “gift loan” as any below-market loan where the forgoing of interest is in the nature of a gift, while a “demand loan” is any loan that is payable in full at any time, at the lender’s demand. The AFR is established by the Treasury Department and posted monthly. As an example, the AFR rates for October 2018 were:
Generally, for income tax purposes:
Borrower – Is treated as paying interest at the AFR rate in effect when the loan was made. The interest is deductible for tax purposes if it otherwise qualifies. However, if the loan amount is $100,000 or less, the amount of the forgone interest deduction cannot exceed the borrower’s net investment income for the year.
Lender – Is treated as gifting to the borrower the amount of the interest between the interest actually paid, if any, and the AFR rate. Both the interest actually paid and the forgone interest are treated as investment interest income.
Exception – The below-market loan rules do not apply to gift loans directly between individuals if the loan amount is $10,000 or less. This exception does not apply to any gift loan directly attributable to the purchase or carrying of income-producing property.
Parent Transferring a Home’s Title to a Child – When an individual passes away, the fair market value (FMV) of all their assets is tallied up. If the value exceeds the lifetime estate tax exemption ($11,180,000 in 2018; about half that amount in 2017), then an estate tax return must be filed, which is rarely the case, given the generous amount of the exclusion. Because the FMV is used in determining the estate’s value, that same FMV, rather than the decedent’s basis, is the basis assigned to the decedent’s property that is inherited by the beneficiaries. The basis is the value from which gain or loss is measured, and if the date-of-death value is higher than the decedent’s basis was, this is often referred to as a step-up in basis.
If an individual gifts an asset to another person, the recipient generally receives it at the donor’s basis (no step-up in basis).
So, it is generally better for tax purposes to inherit an asset than to receive it as a gift.
This brings us to the issue at hand. A frequently encountered problem is when an elderly parent signs the title of his or her home over to a child or other beneficiary and continues to reside in the home. Tax law specifies that an individual who transfers a title and retains the right to live in a home for their lifetime has established a de facto life estate. As such, when the individual dies, the home’s value is included in the decedent’s estate, and no gift tax return is applicable. As a result, the beneficiary’s basis would be the FMV at the date of the decedent’s death.
On the other hand, if the elderly parent does not continue to reside in the home after transferring the title, no life estate has been established, and as discussed earlier, the transfer becomes a gift, and the child’s (gift recipient’s) basis would be the parent’s basis in the home at the date of the gift. In addition, if the child were to sell the home, the home gain exclusion would not apply unless the child moves into the home and meets the two-out-of-five-years use and ownership tests.
Another frequently encountered situation is when the parent simply adds the child’s name to the title while retaining a partial interest. If the home is subsequently sold, the parent, provided they met the two-out-of-five-years use and ownership rules, would be able to exclude $250,000 ($500,000 if the parent is married and filing a joint return) of his, her or their portion of the gain. A gift tax return would be required for the year the child’s name was included on the title, and the child’s basis would be the portion of the parent’s adjusted basis transferred to the child. As mentioned previously, the child would not be able to use the home gain exclusion unless the child occupied and owned the home for two of the five years preceding the sale.
These are only three examples of the tax complications that can occur in family transactions. I highly recommended that you contact this office before completing any family financial transaction. It is better to structure a transaction within the parameters of tax law in the first place than have to suffer unexpected consequences afterwards.
Article Highlights
- Family Member Transactions
- Renting to a Relative
- Below-Market Loans
- Transferring Home Titles
- Gifts
- Basis
- Life Estate
Renting to a Relative – When a taxpayer rents a home to a relative for long-term use as a principal residence, the rental’s tax treatment depends upon whether the property is rented at fair rental value (the rental value of comparable properties in the area) or at less than the fair rental value.
Rented at Fair Rental Value – If the home is rented to the relative at a fair rental value, it is treated as an ordinary rental reported on Schedule E, and losses are allowed, subject to the normal passive loss limitations.
Rented at Less Than Fair Rental Value – When a home is rented at less than the fair rental value, it is treated as being used personally by the owner; the expenses associated with the home are not deductible, and no depreciation is allowed. The result is that all of the rental income is fully taxable and reported as “other income” on the 1040. If the taxpayer were able to itemize their deductions, the property taxes on the home would be deductible, subject to the $10,000 cap on state and local taxes effective starting with 2018. The taxpayer might also be able to deduct the interest on the rental home by treating the home as their second home, up to the debt limits on a first and second home.
Possible Gift Tax Issue – There also could be a gift tax issue, depending if the difference between the fair rental value and the rent actually charged to the tenant-relative exceeds the annual gift tax exemption, which is $15,000 for 2018. If the home has more than one occupant, the amount of the difference would be prorated to each occupant, so unless there was a large difference ($15,000 per occupant, in 2018) between the fair rental value and actual rent, or other gifting was also involved, a gift tax return probably wouldn’t be needed in most cases.
Below-Market Loans – It is not uncommon to encounter situations where there are loans between family members, with no interest being charged or the interest rate being below market rates.
A below-market loan is generally a gift or demand loan where the interest rate is less than the applicable federal rate (AFR). The tax code defines the term “gift loan” as any below-market loan where the forgoing of interest is in the nature of a gift, while a “demand loan” is any loan that is payable in full at any time, at the lender’s demand. The AFR is established by the Treasury Department and posted monthly. As an example, the AFR rates for October 2018 were:
| Term | AFR (Annual) Oct. 2018 |
| 3 years or less | 2.55% |
| Over 3 years but not over 9 years | 2.83% |
| Over 9 years | 2.99% |
Generally, for income tax purposes:
Borrower – Is treated as paying interest at the AFR rate in effect when the loan was made. The interest is deductible for tax purposes if it otherwise qualifies. However, if the loan amount is $100,000 or less, the amount of the forgone interest deduction cannot exceed the borrower’s net investment income for the year.
Lender – Is treated as gifting to the borrower the amount of the interest between the interest actually paid, if any, and the AFR rate. Both the interest actually paid and the forgone interest are treated as investment interest income.
Exception – The below-market loan rules do not apply to gift loans directly between individuals if the loan amount is $10,000 or less. This exception does not apply to any gift loan directly attributable to the purchase or carrying of income-producing property.
Parent Transferring a Home’s Title to a Child – When an individual passes away, the fair market value (FMV) of all their assets is tallied up. If the value exceeds the lifetime estate tax exemption ($11,180,000 in 2018; about half that amount in 2017), then an estate tax return must be filed, which is rarely the case, given the generous amount of the exclusion. Because the FMV is used in determining the estate’s value, that same FMV, rather than the decedent’s basis, is the basis assigned to the decedent’s property that is inherited by the beneficiaries. The basis is the value from which gain or loss is measured, and if the date-of-death value is higher than the decedent’s basis was, this is often referred to as a step-up in basis.
If an individual gifts an asset to another person, the recipient generally receives it at the donor’s basis (no step-up in basis).
So, it is generally better for tax purposes to inherit an asset than to receive it as a gift.
Example: A parent owns a home worth (FMV) $350,000 that was originally purchased for $75,000. If the parent gifts the home to the child and the child sells the home for $350,000, the child will have a taxable gain of $275,000 ($350,000 − $75,000). However, if the child inherits the home, the child’s basis is the FMV at the date of the parent’s death. So in this case, if the date-of-death FMV is $350,000 and if the home is sold for $350,000, there will be no taxable gain.
This brings us to the issue at hand. A frequently encountered problem is when an elderly parent signs the title of his or her home over to a child or other beneficiary and continues to reside in the home. Tax law specifies that an individual who transfers a title and retains the right to live in a home for their lifetime has established a de facto life estate. As such, when the individual dies, the home’s value is included in the decedent’s estate, and no gift tax return is applicable. As a result, the beneficiary’s basis would be the FMV at the date of the decedent’s death.
On the other hand, if the elderly parent does not continue to reside in the home after transferring the title, no life estate has been established, and as discussed earlier, the transfer becomes a gift, and the child’s (gift recipient’s) basis would be the parent’s basis in the home at the date of the gift. In addition, if the child were to sell the home, the home gain exclusion would not apply unless the child moves into the home and meets the two-out-of-five-years use and ownership tests.
Another frequently encountered situation is when the parent simply adds the child’s name to the title while retaining a partial interest. If the home is subsequently sold, the parent, provided they met the two-out-of-five-years use and ownership rules, would be able to exclude $250,000 ($500,000 if the parent is married and filing a joint return) of his, her or their portion of the gain. A gift tax return would be required for the year the child’s name was included on the title, and the child’s basis would be the portion of the parent’s adjusted basis transferred to the child. As mentioned previously, the child would not be able to use the home gain exclusion unless the child occupied and owned the home for two of the five years preceding the sale.
These are only three examples of the tax complications that can occur in family transactions. I highly recommended that you contact this office before completing any family financial transaction. It is better to structure a transaction within the parameters of tax law in the first place than have to suffer unexpected consequences afterwards.
Will You Get a Refund or Owe for 2018?
As a result of tax reform, most taxpayers will be paying less tax for 2018 than they did in 2017. But that may not translate into a larger refund. Your refund is the amount that your pre-payments (withheld income tax, estimated tax payments, and certain credits) exceed your tax liability, and if the pre-payment also got reduced, you could be in for an unpleasant surprise at tax time.
Article Highlights:
So, why would the pre-payments, particularly withholding, be less? Simply because the current W-4 form on which employers base the amount of tax to withhold, and the withholding tables provided by the government that employers use to determine the amount to withhold, are not sophisticated enough to deal with the revised tax laws. Congress passed the changes at the 11th hour of 2017, without giving the IRS sufficient time to adjust the W-4 form and withholding tables to account for the changed laws. The IRS did come out with a revised W-4 late in February, but there are serious concerns that the revised W-4 and withholding tables are not coming up with the correct amounts based upon the new tax law and that the form itself is much more complicated for employees to complete than prior versions were. In fact, the government is so concerned about this that the IRS issues almost daily notices cautioning taxpayers to double check their withholding.
Checking one’s withholding does little good since it is difficult to determine if your withholding will produce near the desired refund result without also projecting what your tax will be for 2018 and then comparing that to your pre-payments, including withholding, for the year. Prior to the tax reform, you generally could use the tax liability from the prior year, compare that against your current year pre-payments, and be pretty confident in what the bottom line would be for the current year. However, that is not possible for 2018, since the tax computation is significantly different from how it was in 2017 and earlier years.
The IRS is developing a new W-4 form to hopefully do a better job of determining the proper withholding based on your wages but just recently announced that it will continue to use the current W-4 for 2019 and unfortunately won’t be releasing the new one until 2020.
If you count on a large refund to pay other liabilities, such as property taxes, you may want to take the time to project your 2018 tax and then compare it to your pre-payments to see if you can expect a refund and determine approximately how much it will be.
At the same time, if your pre-payments are short and you end up owing taxes, you could be hit with underpayment penalties.
We are almost ¾ of the way through the year, and any adjustments to withholding or estimated payments should be made sooner rather than later to produce the desired result at tax time. Please call for assistance.
Article Highlights:
- Tax Reform
- Form W-4
- Withholding
- Refund or Tax Due
So, why would the pre-payments, particularly withholding, be less? Simply because the current W-4 form on which employers base the amount of tax to withhold, and the withholding tables provided by the government that employers use to determine the amount to withhold, are not sophisticated enough to deal with the revised tax laws. Congress passed the changes at the 11th hour of 2017, without giving the IRS sufficient time to adjust the W-4 form and withholding tables to account for the changed laws. The IRS did come out with a revised W-4 late in February, but there are serious concerns that the revised W-4 and withholding tables are not coming up with the correct amounts based upon the new tax law and that the form itself is much more complicated for employees to complete than prior versions were. In fact, the government is so concerned about this that the IRS issues almost daily notices cautioning taxpayers to double check their withholding.
Checking one’s withholding does little good since it is difficult to determine if your withholding will produce near the desired refund result without also projecting what your tax will be for 2018 and then comparing that to your pre-payments, including withholding, for the year. Prior to the tax reform, you generally could use the tax liability from the prior year, compare that against your current year pre-payments, and be pretty confident in what the bottom line would be for the current year. However, that is not possible for 2018, since the tax computation is significantly different from how it was in 2017 and earlier years.
The IRS is developing a new W-4 form to hopefully do a better job of determining the proper withholding based on your wages but just recently announced that it will continue to use the current W-4 for 2019 and unfortunately won’t be releasing the new one until 2020.
If you count on a large refund to pay other liabilities, such as property taxes, you may want to take the time to project your 2018 tax and then compare it to your pre-payments to see if you can expect a refund and determine approximately how much it will be.
At the same time, if your pre-payments are short and you end up owing taxes, you could be hit with underpayment penalties.
We are almost ¾ of the way through the year, and any adjustments to withholding or estimated payments should be made sooner rather than later to produce the desired result at tax time. Please call for assistance.
Thursday, November 1, 2018
21% of Taxpayers Will Owe in 2019
This means that 21% of taxpayers will owe tax when filing their return in 2019. This also means that for taxpayers who normally get a large refund will get less of a refund than they were expecting. Be advised that under withholding can be a real financial hardship, do a Paycheck Checkup.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)