Satty, Levine & Ciacco, CPAs, P.C. Blog

With April 15 closing in, it’s time to focus on income tax preparation. Even though you have probably done it before, there are a slew of new rules on the books this year. To help guide you through tax season, Satty, Levine & Ciacco has prepared a list of basic tips for personal income tax filers.

With the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act now in full effect, there may be several key changes to your tax return preparation. From new tax brackets to a higher standard deduction, the law may increase or decrease the size of your refund check. With the deadline clock ticking down, it’s not too late to learn everything you need to know about the tax changes for 2019.

A lot has changed in a year. With new income tax laws fully in effect, 2019 tax refunds are a hot topic of discussion. While some people’s refund checks are expected to increase substantially, others may not be quite so lucky. In fact, experts predict that millions of Americans could be in for a surprise.

Lately, the IRS has been issuing more penalties for underpayment of estimated taxes. From 2010 to 2015, there was a 40 percent jump in the number of people who paid these fines. As a result, the IRS is urging all taxpayers to educate themselves about estimated tax payments.

With tax day just weeks away, the IRS has issued a stern reminder that any income from virtual currency transactions must be reported on your tax return. The government views these types of transactions like any other exchange of property. Taxpayers who do not properly report digital currency transactions could face an audit and be held liable for penalties and interest.

Every year, millions of Americans wait until the last-minute to submit their tax returns. As a result, many people undergo unnecessary stress in April. Before the tax filing deadline sneaks up on you again, use these tips to help you submit on time.

Although many Americans simply take the standard deduction, there are many tips and tricks that professional accountants recommend to clients to increase tax savings. From saving for retirement to documenting charitable contributions, these strategies can put more money back in your pocket.

In order to prevent people from being pushed into higher federal income tax brackets because of inflation, the IRS adjusts more than 40 tax provisions every year, including income thresholds, deduction amounts and credit values.

The gifts you give to charity this holiday season have the potential to provide tax benefits in April. By following these tips, your charitable contributions can help increase the size of your tax refund check.

Sometimes, it pays to be generous. If you have given away a large sum of money in the past year, you can use exemptions and exclusions to the gift tax to protect the value of that transfer of wealth.