Act Fast: These Four Tax Breaks Will Disappear In 2018

In some ways, the tax reform bill passed by Congress stands to make filing federal income taxes a simpler process for the average person.

But one way the bill signed into law by President Donald Trump accomplishes this is by eliminating some itemized deductions after 2017.

Folks who lower their tax bill by claiming the standard deduction won’t be affected by the elimination of such deductions. But those who reduce their taxes by claiming multiple individual deductions — itemized deductions — will have fewer tax breaks to apply to their 2018 taxes.

In other words, if you itemize tax deductions, your 2017 tax return will be the last on which you can claim certain tax breaks.

H&R Block reports that, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the following four itemized deductions will end after tax year 2017:

  1. Employee Business Expenses
  2. Tax Preparation Fees
  3. Investment Interest Expenses
  4. Personal Casualty and Theft Losses (with the exception of certain losses incurred in certain federally declared disaster areas)

So, anyone who itemizes their tax deductions and is eligible for any of those tax breaks in 2017 should make the most of them before Jan. 1.

 

Source: AOL Money Talk News