June 29, 2018:  Today the IRS released the draft of the new Form 1040.  As promised, it’s much smaller than the old… HOWEVER, many of the changes came from eliminating lines and requiring NEW SUB-SCHEDULES where those old lines are summarized.

For example, a new Schedule 1 will summarize K-1 income, rental income, etc.

So… less comparable to prior years and less information easily seen on the front of the return.  In other words, more complex and less user-friendly.

Oh well, so much for positive reform…

Source: Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court (April 30, 2018: CA Supreme Court)

The CA Supreme Court has reset the standards for qualifying as an independent contractor in the State.  In summary: the burden is on the business to prove that a worker is an independent contractor.  All workers are assumed as employees unless proven otherwise.

There is now an ABC test: 

A) the worker is free from control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract and in fact.

B) the worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business

C) the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business.

ALL THREE TESTS MUST BE FULFILLED.  

We are not a law firm and can’t make a classification determination for you, but we can recommend employment attorneys to help.  Financial penalties for mis-classification can be significant.

Source: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TJCA)

The TJCA has increased the standard deduction to $24,000 for couples filing married-joint starting in 2018.  Because of this, many won’t be able to use their deductions to charity.

Example: A married couple have itemized deductions of $10,000 state and local taxes (the limit in 2018), mortgage interest of $8,000 and charitable contributions of $5,000.  As their total itemized deductions are less than $24,000, they will take the standard deduction and the charitable deductions won’t help them.

Planning:  Instead, in Year 1, the couple makes no charitable contributions.  On January 1 of year 2, they give $5,000 and on December 15 of Year 2 they give $5,000.  Over the two period, they have given $10k (as was their habit), but by bunching both into year 2, they can now itemize in Year 2 and get some benefit of the charitable giving.

Source: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)

Thanks to the TCJA, the basic exclusion amount increased substantially for 2018 (until the year 2025) to $11,180,000 per individual estate.  A husband and wife with an AB-type living trust could exclude $22,360,000 from estate taxes under this current law.

Annual exclusion: For 2018, the annual exclusion for gift “sprinkling” to individuals increased from $14,000 (2017) to $15,000. 

As with any tax act, although this is the law now, there is no guarantee that it will remain unchanged in future tax acts.  Still, this will give relief to many taxpayers who would have otherwise been subject to estate tax upon death.