This is your last crack at the old rules. We help you make the most of them.
EXCITED ABOUT THE NEW TAX LAW?
Well, keep calm as you sit down to do your 2017 return. With just a couple of exceptions, neither the promising nor the threatening changes will affect the bottom line on the forms due this April. If you itemized in the past, you’ll probably itemize again. And if your personal situation in 2017 was similar to what it was the year before, your tax bill probably won’t change much, either.
However, if you took steps toward the end of 2017 to prepare for the new law, you may encounter some speed bumps on the road to filing your tax return. Luckily, you’ll have a couple more days to figure things out. Because April 15 is on a Sunday and April 16 is a holiday in Washington, D.C., you have until April 17 to file your federal tax return. But don’t use that as an excuse to procrastinate. Filing early is the most effective way to prevent identity thieves from stealing your refund. Getting a jump on your return also reduces the risk that you’ll make errors that could cost you money or attract unwanted attention from the IRS.
Get rewarded for philanthropy.
While the new law preserves the deduction for charitable contributions, fewer taxpayers will benefit from it after 2017 because more people will claim the standard deduction (see “The New Rules of Philanthropy,” on page 66). With that in mind, many taxpayers increased their charitable giving at the end of 2017. Schwab Charitable, a donor-advised fund that allows donors to make deductible contributions in one year and distribute the funds later, says 91% more accounts were opened during the last six months of 2017 than over the same period in 2016.
This story is from the April 2018 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
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This story is from the April 2018 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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