Drafts of the new “postcard” sized 1040 and the 6 accompanying schedules are available.
“Smaller is not necessarily simpler. The new form omits a variety of popular deductions, including those for student loan interest and teaching supplies, forcing taxpayers to search for them — and tally them up — on one of six accompanying worksheets.”
Apparently there is no longer a 1040A or 1040EZ - just the one new form and the schedules.
Will the FAFSA form change to reflect no 1040a or 1040ez for families trying for auto $0 EFC or simplified needs test?
They didn’t simplify anything. They give the appearance of a simpler postcard-sized form, but alot of people will need to fill out a bunch of schedules to be able to fill out the postcard form.
They did simplify my tax filing. I won’t be itemizing next year. I am not keeping any receipts. I think I can just fill out the form next year without TurboTax. No deductions, no AMT. It feels good.
And that raises an interesting point. I read that presently, 90% of taxpayers file electronically. The simplified form may result in more filers using paper forms and mailing them in, which is actually harder for the IRS to process.
I also have yet to spot where charitable donations go. IRA deductions and student loan interest are on schedule 1.
I guess if one still uses an online program, knowing what goes where does not matter so much.
@thumper1 , this has not been covered yet in regulatory guidance. It may be discussed in November at the FSA conference, but it’s not pressing at this point … due to prior-prior year making 2018 taxes a distant issue.
I believe IRS website has a writable PDA on line. I plan to fill it out on line and file it electronically. It shouldn’t take me much time. Filling out the income section was always the easiest. We don’t have complex income. Transfer numbers from brokerage issued 1099’s. Under the new tax law, that’s the only thing I need to do. We have a donor advised fund to make contributions from. Without deducting SALTS, we can exceed the standard deduction amount. Since we are taking standard deduction, we won’t subject to AMT. I think 30 minutes tops.
Snowy afternoon was the perfect time to look at 2018 taxes. Very simple situation with 2 W2s and standard deduction for the first time. Came up owing $1700, sigh. And this is with 0 allowances on my and DH’s W4 and withholding an additional $100 per pay the past few months. Peachy. I wonder if Congress is going to pass legislation to waive underpayment penalties this year with all of the changes?
Am going to have the extra $100 per pay withheld for 2019 going forward.
I suspect we will be in your boat as well. We get additional money withheld each pay period…I’m guessing we will owe an additional $2000.
I agree…peachy.
I can tell you…if we owe, we will be submitting on April 14 or so.
I don’t think there is a penalty for under withholding as long as you withheld at least 90% of what you paid in taxes for the previous year.
I just did my January estimated tax payment (last one for 2018). To do this, I go into TurboTax 2017 and use the estimated tax process for 2018 payments. I adjust the numbers for stuff like income before each quarterly payment based on actual S Corp revenues to date, etc. Although TT got a software update when I opened the program, I noticed that the questions they asked for the 2018 estimated payment don’t seem to be updated based on the new tax law. So I’m pretty unclear on whether I’ve paid too much, too little, or close to the right amount. I guess I’ll know in a month or so when I have all the info to work on my return.
I am counting on the “paid as much in estimated as owed total last year” to avoid penalties. No withholding since we are retired. And no massive medical bills for a change to have deductions. I haven’t done a standard deduction in 45 years!! but ouch on the final amount owed.
@twoinanddone - thanks for reminding me about this:
I don’t think there is a penalty for under withholding as long as you withheld at least 90% of what you paid in taxes for the previous year.
The exception to estimated tax penalty is 100% of last year’s tax or 90% of this year’s. Over certain income threshholds, it is 110% of last year’s tax.
Yeah, we are counting on the safe harbor to avoid penalties for any underpayment.
No idea what our taxes are this year. Last year, we had to pay a surprisingly high amount because my dad harvested some gains to get into their CCRC. He has some stocks in my name and each of my siblings names and we all owed more taxes than we expected. I guess it makes him happy because generally no one asks him to pay the taxes on his gains, we just absorb any taxes on he has, which he happily pockets. Last year it was so high most of us asked him to reimburse.
Yep 110% is what I just wrote my estimated checks for to be on the safe side. I have absolutely no idea what we will owe this year. Hong Kong income, regular income, self employment income, no AMT, but no SALT either. It’s all going to a tax accountant for the first time because life is too short to try to figure it out.
Without my mortgage deduction, I would be owing a lot, but my mortgage was originated before 2017, so I should be able to do itemized.
No mortgage interest here. The total of our property and state taxes, and our charitable donations probably won’t exceed the standard deduction for a married couple. In the past, between the standard deduction, personal exemption, property taxes, and charitable donations, we did exceed the standard deduction. That work related expenses like licensure, insurance, etc. we will see.
I do think we are going to need to pay additional from what was withheld, even with extra money taken out.
^ Same and same.