Author: Leon Clinton

Tax

Five Tax Deductions that Disappeared in 2018

Under tax reform, individuals who itemize should be aware that deductions they may have previously counted on to reduce their taxable income have disappeared in 2018. Here are five of them.

1. Moving Expenses

For tax years 2018 through 2025, moving expenses are no longer deductible unless you are a member of the Armed Forces on active duty who moves because of a military order. Prior to tax reform (i.e., for tax years starting before January 1, 2018), taxpayers could deduct expenses related to moving for a job as long as the move met certain IRS criteria.

2. Unreimbursed Job Expenses

For tax years starting in 2018 and expiring at the end of 2025, miscellaneous unreimbursed job-related expenses that exceed 2% of adjusted gross income (AGI) are no longer deductible on Schedule A of Form 1040. Examples of unreimbursed job-related expenses include union dues, continuing education, employer-required medical tests, regulatory and license fees (provided the employee was not reimbursed), and out-of-pocket expenses paid by an employee for uniforms, tools, and supplies.

3. Tax Preparation Fees

Tax preparation fees, which fall under miscellaneous fees on Schedule A of Form 1040 and are also subject to the 2% floor, have been eliminated for tax years 2018 through 2025. Tax preparation fees include payments to accountants, tax prep firms, as well as the cost of tax preparation software.

4. Personal Exemptions

Repealed for tax years 2018 through 2025, the personal exemption enabled individual taxpayers to reduce taxable income by $4,050 (in 2017). Each household dependent was entitled to the deduction as well. While the standard deduction did increase significantly ($12,000 for individuals, $24,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly, $18,000 for heads of household), some taxpayers may still lose out.

5. Subsidized Parking and Transit Reimbursements for Employers

Before tax reform, employees could take advantage of a perk offered by many employers whereby parking and transit pass costs (up to $255 per month) were reimbursed by their employers tax-free (i.e., not included in the employee’s taxable income). These amounts were deductible to companies on their tax returns; however, for tax years 2018 through 2025, the deduction is no longer available leading to the possibility that some employers to stop reimbursing their employees for parking and transit costs.

Help is just a phone call away.

Don’t hesitate to call the office if you have any questions about tax reform and how it affects your particular tax situation.

Tax

Tax Due Dates for July 2018

July 10

Employees Who Work for Tips – If you received $20 or more in tips during June, report them to your employer. You can use Form 4070.

July 16

Employers – Nonpayroll withholding. If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in June.

Employers – Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income tax. If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in June.

July 31

Employers – Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income tax. File Form 941 for the second quarter of 2018. Deposit any undeposited tax. (If your tax liability is less than $2,500, you can pay it in full with a timely filed return.) If you deposited the tax for the quarter in full and on time, you have until August 10 to file the return.

Employers – Federal unemployment tax. Deposit the tax owed through June if more than $500.

Employers – If you maintain an employee benefit plan, such as a pension, profit-sharing, or stock bonus plan, file Form 5500 or 5500-EZ for calendar-year 2017. If you use a fiscal year as your plan year, file the form by the last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends.

Certain Small Employers – Deposit any undeposited tax if your tax liability is $2,500 or more for 2018 but less than $2,500 for the second quarter.

Accounting

Customize QuickBooks’ Forms

Every opportunity you have to interact with your customers and vendors is critical. Whether it’s a phone call, an in-person connection, or an email, how you present yourself reveals a lot about you. Are you efficient? Friendly? Do you handle orders and problems and payment issues quickly and carefully?

Your accounting forms can also contribute to your image. They should always be:

  • Neat and attractive.
  • Easy to read, with the most important information displayed prominently.
  • Consistent with any graphics you use on other company materials.
  • Accurate, above all.

You might be able to use at least some of QuickBooks’ form templates as is, without any modifications. But couldn’t they be better? More visually appealing? Formatted to include only the fields that your business most often needs? QuickBooks contains the customization tools you need to make them so.

Improving What Exists


Figure 1: You can personalize your QuickBooks forms and make them consistent with any design themes your brand may use. 

Let’s look at the modification options for an invoice, though, depending on what version of QuickBooks you’re using, you can also work with sales receipts, purchase orders, statements, estimates, sales orders, and credit memos. Start by opening the Lists menu and selecting Templates. Highlight Intuit Product Invoice in the list. Click the down arrow next to Templates in the lower left corner and choose Edit Template.

The above image displays part of the window that opens. Here, you can add a logo, change the color scheme, and change fonts for your company’s contact information and the labels that identify each field (like Bill To, Terms, and Quantity). The right pane of this window shows you what the form will look like as you make changes.

Nothing you’ve done so far will prevent you from using Intuit’s pre-printed forms. But when you click Additional Customization at the bottom of the screen, you’ll be warned that if you make modifications beyond this point, the forms may not print correctly. To be safe, click Make a Copy. You’ll be able to print this new version on plain paper.

Deeper Customization

The image below shows you part of the window that opens when you click on Additional Customization. The first two columns here are the most important; they let you specify the labeled fields that will appear on your invoices. When Header is the active column, you’ll be able to choose the content that will go at the top of your form, like Date, Invoice Number, and Terms.

Next to each default label, you’ll see boxes for Screen and Print. Click in these boxes to create or delete checkmarks; this will indicate whether each label will appear in the software itself and which will be printed for your customers to see. If you’d like to change the language QuickBooks uses to describe each, enter your preferred word or phrase in the Titlecolumn.


Figure 2: With the Header column highlighted, you can shape the appearance of the top section of your invoices. 

Caution: As you’re checking and unchecking boxes, a dialog box may open telling you that your changes will cause some fields to overlap on your form. If you click the Default Layoutbutton, QuickBooks will make automatic adjustments to fix this. Clicking Continue means you’ll have to use the software’s Layout Designer to make your own adjustments. This tool is not particularly intuitive, and it requires some design skills. If you must work with the Layout Designer, please call for assistance.

When you click the Columns tab, you’ll see a list of the fields available for the main body of your invoices, like Description, Quantity, and Rate. This works similarly to how you just modified the Header, with one exception: You’ll be able to enter numbers in the Order column to specify the placement of each field. Here again, you’ll be able to watch a preview of your form change in the right pane.

If you want to start over, click the Default button to revert the form to its original state. When you’re done, click OK.

Neatness Counts

Whether you print and mail your forms or simply dispatch them electronically, we strongly encourage you to make them as professional and polished as you possibly can. Their appearance will enhance or detract from the image your customers and vendors have of your business. Please call the office if you need help learning about and implementing the customization options that QuickBooks offers.

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