Thank you for volunteering!
Cliff Walk, Prout’s Neck, ME
News for 2018
The most noticeable change for returning volunteers and tax preparers is the look of the Form 1040.
The biggest tax related are changes to the child & dependent credits and the introduction of a new Qualified Business Income deduction (that gets automatically calculated triggered by our Schedule C sole proprietors).
It’s now a Postcard! Form 1040 has a new look and a few significant changes to the tax laws. These changes are being implemented due to the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017. Because of the redesigned and more compact Form 1040, many of the omitted lines from 2017’s 1040 have been offloaded to one of 6 new Schedules.
Schedules 1-6 hold the seldom used items from the 2017 Form 1040; there are things like income, adjustments to income, AMT computations, and nonrefundable credits, to name a few. These offloaded line items have even retained their old line numbers from 2017 Form 1040 (in draft forms). Click to take a look at the new Tax Forms.
Comparison 2018 v 2017. Some of you may be interested in comparing the two years to gain perspective. The Taxpayer Advocate Service published an extensive comparison Tax Change by Topic.
Also, here’s something only if your are curious or having trouble sleeping, that sort of thing:-) The Joint Committee on Taxation decided to publish a summary of new tax code in plain english. It was prepared by the staff which to me means it’s just the facts and, thankfully, not trying to drive a partisan narrative. The part that relates to Individual Taxes is only a few pages. Here it is.
x-3-18 Overview of the Federal Tax System as in Effect for 2018
With regard to Maine tax law changes, here is a plain English explanation of the Legislative changes in Maine tax laws enacted for 2018. It is concise and informative.