I cannot find an answer to how the new proposal impacts those 65+. If an older couple presently takes the standard deduction, but also has 2 exemptions + they each get the age 65+ deduction - now they would have the $24,000 standard deduction, right? Is the over 65 additional deduction gone?
If you are in NYS you should check with your town/city regarding prepaying your property tax.
http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/New-Yorkers-could-pay-2018-property-taxes-early-12431829.php
Completely self-serving question, as someone who hasn’t lived in a state with an income tax for 15 years (and who will continue to itemize under the proposed system: Will there still be a calculation for deduction of sales taxes?
We are in AMT territory, so prepaying taxes for 2018 does not do us any good.
Anyone who is thinking about prepaying 2018 property tax or playing games with income tax needs to make sure it won’t put them into AMT.
Is this what you are talking about? Page 538:
Apparently yes. Page 604:
@thumper1 ; Yes. You can pay the second installment now.
You mean I get a better standard deduction because I’m 66? Woohoo…or do we just get the married rate…because DH is younger?
Yep…paying those taxes as soon as the bill is in hand! We have been advised by our tax collector that we cannot pay until the bills have been generated.
So as middle income, married, childless homeowners paying off student loans- is there anything we should think about prepaying this year? I just do not have the time or energy to dig into this right now.
@thumper1 - under the current law - there is an additional deduction for a married couple when at least one spouse is 65+. Cannot find an answer whether that is still going to be the case or if it was replaced by the new $24,000 standard deduction.
Well…geez…I was 65 last year! Hope turbo tax gave me the big bonus 
Forbes, in the article I linked upthread, says the 65+ deduction is gone.
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I’m trying to figure out how much property tax I can prepay in 2017.
My town’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. Tax bills come out in December, March, June and September and are due to first business day of February, May, Aug, and Nov.
The first two bills of a fiscal year (Aug and Nov) are preliminary based on the assessment the previous December. The last two (due Feb and May) are exact.
Based on the bill that comes out in December for 3rd and 4th quarter, I’m sure I can prepay the payments due in February and May during the last week of December.
They will also know the exact amounts of the bills due Aug and Nov of 2018, but since they haven’t been actually been assessed, I’m not sure if I can deduct them if I pay them. (The town is happy to collect them).
I need to figure this out because it’s a lot of money. Does anybody know?
We get a year,y tax bill that is paid in two installments. First one due July 1, second one due January 1. For fiscal 2017-2018 year ending June 30 2018.
I believe we can pay the January due bill…really, we could have paid it full in July.
I don’t believe we can pay anything for which we have not yet received a bill.
You should check with your local taxing authority in terms of making payments early. Often times, you cannot pay a tax bill until the tax is due on the system. If you pay before the bill is generated on the system, you will be paid a refund.
It can also be complicated if your taxes are escrowed with your mortgage company. Though you can sometimes call your servicer and see if they will pay early (assuming the funds are in escrow) and the local taxing authority will accept the payment at the time.
So end of year preparation for the new tax bill (or just to maximize 2017 deductions), we
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paid the Jan 1 mortgage payment so the interest shows up in 2017 and we got our last 2017 paychecks on Friday anyway.
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made our remaining 2017 donations.
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made a donation of appreciated stock to our Fidelity Charitable Fund that covers what we would otherwise expect to donate for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021. There are very few organizations that we donate to that aren’t registered with them. Maybe for 2022, this tax bill can be undone.
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I figured out how much I will owe in state income tax and plan to make an estimated payment the last week of the year when I’m closer to being sure of the amount. I can do this online with an EFT funds transfer.
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I plan to pay as much property tax as possible, probably just the amount billed in December for half of the year.
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We’re putting together the annual Goodwill bag and will deduct the thrift value or $500 whichever comes out less.
I plan to pay off the remaining 5 years of my mortgage on Jan 2 since without the deduction it’s not worth keeping.
Can anybody think of anything else?
@ClassicRockerDad we are doing the same.
1.paying balance of property taxes before end of 2017.
- Did additional charitable contributions before year end.
- We are also going to bank some extra money in a dedicated account...so that when we get our increased tax bill next year, we will be able to pay it.
- I do not plan to work in 2018....so our income will be lower.
My house property taxes are due November 15 and February 15. I paid online both installments in December in the last 2, 3 years. The city gladly took my money and did not have objection. Why should they object when they can have your money early? I hate to do paper work more than once.
The people processing tax payments typically are not invested in getting money early. If they receive money at a time when no tax is due, they often generate a refund. I have had it happen in other tax contexts. Again, your mileage may vary. So check with your taxing authority.
Your situation is strange. Even the IRS accepts early tax payment.