JG Tax and Financial Services

Federal Tax Filing Season Opens on January 27, 2025

The IRS has announced that the filing season for 2024 tax returns will officially begin on Monday, January 27. On that date, the IRS will begin accepting tax returns for processing, and begin preparing and issuing refunds. Note that you may file your return before January 27, but the IRS will not take any action with the return until that date. Except in regions where the IRS has issued deadline extensions due to federal disaster declarations, 2024 individual tax returns must be filed by April 15, 2025.

After January 27, people who have filed their 2024 returns will be able to use the IRS Where's My Refund portal (link below) to check the status of their tax refunds. For most returns filed electronically, status updates will become available within 24 hours after filing. For paper returns, it can take up to four weeks for the portal to provide refund status information. The IRS issues most tax refunds within 21 days after processing the return. However, refunds related to the Earned Income Tax Credit cannot be issued before mid-February.

A tax professional can help you e-file your return with direct deposit of your refund, for the fastest possible processing.

IRS Refund Status Portal: https://www.irs.gov/wheres-my-refund

Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments - Reminder

If you are making quarterly estimated tax payments to the IRS, the due date for the September 1 – December 31 quarter of last year is January 15, 2025.

For payments made using IRS Direct Pay, you can make payments until 11:45PM EST, and for payments using a credit or debit card, payments can be made up to midnight on the due date.

Standard Business Mileage Rate to Increase for 2025 – Did You Know?

The IRS has announced that the standard mileage rate for business use of a vehicle will be 70 cents per mile in 2025, an increase of 3 cents over the 2024 rate. Note that this rate applies only to business miles driven on or after January 1, 2025. Self-employed people and small business owners who use the standard mileage rate must use the previous rate of 67 cents per mile to figure their 2024 vehicle expense deductions.

In most cases, using the standard business mileage rate is optional. You may instead figure your deduction by tracking actual expenses like repairs, depreciation, auto loan interest, and fuel or charging expenses. Make sure to prorate each expense based on the percentage of your mileage traveled solely for business reasons. Also note that if you report actual expenses for the first year when you put a vehicle into service for business, then you generally must track actual expenses for all subsequent years as well.

A tax professional can help you determine whether you qualify to deduct business vehicle expenses, and if so, help you find the most advantageous strategy to figure your deduction.

Tax-related Gift Card Scams During the Holidays – Did You Know?

The holiday season can bring a lot of joy, but unfortunately, it also brings a new wave of scammers trying to cheat Americans out of their hard-earned money. Many scammers impersonate the IRS or other government agencies and demand payment in gift cards.

In one common version of the scam, a caller posing as an IRS agent threatens a person with tax and/or criminal penalties if the person does not immediately pay off a fictitious tax debt. The scammer may also send threatening text, email or voice messages with a callback number. Ultimately, the scammer demands that the person make payment by purchasing gift cards and sharing the card numbers and PINs.

If you get a call or message from anyone demanding payment in gift cards, hang up or do not reply. The IRS will never call a taxpayer to demand payment in gift cards, prepaid debit cards or wire transfers. If you have legitimate concerns about your tax situation, including back taxes you may owe, a tax professional can help you handle the problem in a safe, secure way.

Retirement Plan Distributions Deadline - Did You Know?

The IRS recently issued a reminder that many seniors must take mandatory withdrawals, known as required minimum distributions (RMDs), from their retirement accounts by December 31. In general, people of age 73 or older must take annual RMDs from their traditional IRAs or IRA-based workplace plans, such as SIMPLE IRAs, even if they are still working. Similar RMD rules apply for many other workplace retirement plans like 401(k) and 403(b) accounts. However, people who have not yet retired can defer RMDs for some of these accounts, as long as they do not own more than 5% of the company. Designated Roth accounts within workplace retirement plans are generally not subject to RMD rules.

Your retirement account administrator should inform you of your RMD amount, which is based on your account balance and current age. In general, RMDs count as taxable income. Failure to take an RMD by the deadline may trigger a tax penalty of up to 25% of the required withdrawal amount.

The standard deadline to take RMDs is December 31, but if you turned 73 in 2024, you will typically have until April 1, 2025 to take your first RMD. Just keep in mind that you will then need to take your second RMD by December 31, 2025. A tax professional can help you determine how the various RMD rules apply to your accounts, and plan for any tax impacts of the withdrawals.

Healthcare Open Enrollment Deadline on December 15

This week is the last week to register for the HealthCare.gov open enrollment period with the deadline being Sunday, December 15th, 2024. Once the Open Enrollment period is over, you will only be able to enroll if there's a qualifying life event for the Special Enrollment Period.

Enrollment can be done at https://healthcare.gov, and a simple checklist of documents you'll need can be found here: https://marketplace.cms.gov/outreach-and-education/marketplace-application-checklist.pdf.

Giving Tuesday and Charitable Donations - Did You Know?

Giving Tuesday is an annual event that highlights charitable giving after Thanksgiving.

If you are considering charitable donations, you may be able to donate to a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) every two or three years instead of every year. This may qualify you to receive tax benefits now, allow the amount to grow tax-free, and the decision on which qualified charity to fund can be made later.

If you are 70.5 years or older, you may also be able to make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) directly from your IRA this year. QCDs may allow the donation to be deducted from your income. A tax advisor can help you structure your charitable giving.

The IRS has released a tool to make it easier to get information about qualified charitable organizations. The Exempt Organizations Select Check tool can be found at: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search.

Tax Credit for Businesses That Provide Childcare for Employees – Did You Know?

Businesses that offer childcare services to employees may qualify for the Employer-Provided Childcare Tax Credit for some of the expenses involved. Eligible costs may include acquisition or construction of a childcare facility, ongoing expenses to run an in-house daycare center, and/or referral costs like contracting with an outside childcare facility or service.

This nonrefundable credit may cover up to 25% of qualifying workplace childcare facility costs, or 10% of costs for an outside service, up to a maximum of $150,000. Eligible businesses may claim the credit as part of the General Business Credit, meaning that any excess credit amount may be carried back one year or forward up to 20 years. A business tax professional can help you determine whether your enterprise qualifies for the Employer-Provided Childcare Tax Credit, and if so, help you get the maximum benefit from the credit.

Use Savings Bonds to Pay for College and Get a Tax Advantage – Did You Know?

Ordinarily, interest earned on U.S. savings bonds is taxable income. However, if you pay higher education costs, then you may qualify to cash in federal series EE or I bonds tax-free. The IRS Education Savings Bond program allows eligible people to exclude some or all of their U.S. bond interest from their gross income, provided that they use the bonds to pay tuition and certain required fees at a qualifying higher education institution.

To be eligible for this program, you must pay the education expenses for yourself, your spouse or a dependent. The program is subject to income limits, which the IRS adjusts annually for inflation. Other eligibility restrictions may apply, such as limitations on the expenses you may pay using the bonds if the student also receives tax-free scholarship funds. A tax professional can help you determine whether you qualify for the Education Savings Bond program, and if so, how much of the interest on your bonds could be exempt from tax.