You’ve filed your taxes for 2017, and if you’re among those who overpaid, you’ve likely already received your tax refund. Time to breathe a sigh of relief that you can stop thinking about taxes for a while, right?
Not so fast. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has some major changes that will take effect for the 2018 tax year, which means you may have too much – or too little – being withheld from your paycheck. The challenge is that if you don’t take a look, you may not know how the tax law will affect you until it’s too late.
Consider a Tax Checkup
To reduce your chance of getting a nasty surprise next tax season, the Internal Revenue Service recently rolled out several tools to help taxpayers conduct their own “Paycheck Checkup.” The tools include:
- A withholding calculator, which lets taxpayers estimate next year’s tax bill based on their current income and 2017 tax return information
- A series of information and tip sheets that explain specific groups of taxpayers who are most likely to have changes in their taxes
- Information about filing a new W-4 to change tax withholding
- A YouTube video series to help taxpayers make sense of the changes
How We Can Help You
I recently had a client in my office – a married couple who both have jobs but don’t have a lot of itemized expenses. They both receive a W-2 from their employers each year. They were shocked to learn that they did not have enough being withheld from their paychecks for 2018. They would have ended up owing a big tax bill at the end of the year. Fortunately, they were able to adjust their withholding to spread out the additional amount they would owe. It gives them peace of mind to know they’re covered.
At Gibbons & Gibbons, we can help you make sense of your 2018 withholding and clarify your tax picture. With 26 tax seasons’ worth of experience, we have weathered tax code changes big and small. We offer tax checkup consultations to current and new clients – contact us for information and pricing.
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Joe Gibbons, CPA is managing partner of Gibbons & Gibbons, P.C., a Northern Virginia-based accounting and business advisory firm that specializes in working with law firms and other professional service providers.
