Changes to Benefits for Dependents. Deduction for personal exemptions are suspended. For 2019, you cannot claim a personal exemption deduction for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents. Child Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit. The maximum credit increased to $2,000 per qualifying child. Up to $1,400 of the credit can be refundable for each…… MORE
Capital Gain and Qualified Dividend Maximum Tax Rates. For 2018, the breakpoints no longer follow the tax brackets for regular income tax purposes. The breakpoints are as follows: Single Taxable Income $ 0 to 38,600 maximum rate = 0% 38,601 to 425,800 maximum rate = 15% 425,801 and over maximum rate = 20% MFJ or…… MORE
Entertainment Expense Deduction. For 2018, the new law provides that no deduction is allowed with respect to: 1) An activity generally considered to be entertainment, amusement or recreation, 2) Membership dues with respect to any club organized for business, pleasure, recreation or other social purposes, or 3) A facility or portion thereof used in connection…… MORE
Depreciation Section 179 Expense Deduction. For 2018, the new law increases the maximum amount a taxpayer may expense under Section 179 to $1,000,000 and increases the phase-out threshold amount to $2,500,000. The provision provides that the maximum amount a taxpayer may expense, for tax years beginning after 2017, is $1,000,000 of the cost of qualifying…… MORE
Deduction for Qualified Business Income (Pass-Through Entity Deduction). For 2018, an individual taxpayer generally may deduct 20% of qualified business income from a partnership, S corporation, or sole proprietorship, as well as 20% of aggregate qualified REIT dividends, and qualified publicly traded partnership income. In the case of a partnership or S corporation, the deduction…… MORE
Section 529 Qualified Tuition Programs. Effective 2018. 529 plans can allow distributions of up to $10,000 per-student to pay tuition expenses for a public, private, or religious elementary or secondary school. The rules for postsecondary educational institutions are unchanged. Estate and Gift Tax Exemption Amount. For 2018, the estate and gift tax exemption amount is…… MORE
Reporting Health Care Coverage. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, you must continue to report coverage, qualify for an exemption, or report an individual shared responsibility payment for tax year 2018. This means that for tax year 2018, the IRS will not consider a return complete and accurate if you do not report full-year…… MORE
Changes to Benefits for Dependents. Deduction for personal exemptions are suspended. For 2018, you can’t claim a personal exemption deduction for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents.… MORE
Deduction and Exclusion for Moving Expenses Suspended. The deduction for moving expenses is suspended. … MORE
Changes to Itemized Deductions.… MORE
By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …
By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…
By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…
Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…