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GET A HEAD START ON YOUR 2022 TAXES

- ROCKY MENGLE AND JOY TAYLOR

With the 2021 tax season barely over, you probably don't want to start thinking about next year's return. But armed with your recent returns, now is a good time to make sure you're up to speed on tax law changes and updates for the 2022 tax year.

Most of the tax breaks in the American Rescue Plan Act expired at the end of 2021. As a result, some popular tax breaks are different for the 2022 tax year than they were for 2021. Other 2022 tweaks are the result of new rules or annual inflation adjustments.

For example, the child tax credit reverts to its pre-2021 form for the 2022 tax year and drops back down to $2,000 per child. And children who are 17 years old don't qualify for the credit this year, because the former age limit (16 years old) returns. Other highlights:

Long-term capital gains tax rate. Tax rates on long-term capital gains (that is, gains from the sale of capital assets held for at least one year) and qualified dividends did not change for 2022. However, the income thresholds to qualify for the various rates were adjusted for inflation.

In 2022, the 0% rate applies for individual taxpayers with taxable income up to $41,675 on single returns and $83,350 for joint returns. The 20% rate for 2022 starts at $459,751 for singles and $517,201 for couples filing jointly.

The 3.8% surtax on net investment income stays the same for 2022. It kicks in for single people with modified adjusted gross income of more than $200,000 and for joint filers with modified AGI above $250,000.