January 8, 2014
Below are some reminders about when the 2014 Filing Season will begin and some of the new tax law changes that will affect individual returns for Tax Year 2013:
Start of Filing Season
Both the individual and business filing season will be starting later due to the government shutdown this past October 2013.
First day of filing season will be:
New Tax Provisions for 2013 Federal Returns
The following federal provisions are new for the upcoming filing season:
New Simplified Method for Home Office Deduction
In order to provide simplification for taxpayers that claim the home office deduction on Schedule C, the IRS now gives taxpayers the option to use a simplified method to calculate the home office deduction. Instead of using Form 8829, the taxpayer may multiply the square footage used for business footage by $5.
For more information, see the following on the IRS website:
Itemized Medical Expense Deduction Threshold Percentage
Starting with 2013 individual returns, the threshold percentages for when medical expenses are included as an itemized deduction have changed to:
For more information see the 2013 Instructions for Schedule A.
For more details on these changes, see the following:
For a complete listing of federal tax law changes that will affect individual 2013 tax returns, see the Things to Know for the Current Tax Year section of the Crosslink Tax Resource Center.