InTouch with Southern Kentucky March 2020 | Page 34

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Most of the major changes were last year with the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Take the madness out of taxes
BY JANIE SLAVEN
COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL
There’s another kind of madness
in March that has nothing to do
with basketball.
“Tax season” actually starts in
late January and extends into the
middle of April. Whether you owe
or expect a refund, it’s important
to get a handle on your state and
federal income tax returns ahead of
the April 15 deadline.
Dan Harris of Taxmasters in
downtown Somerset offered In
Touch readers some tips to help
ensure that tax preparation isn’t too
34 • I n T ouch with S outhern K entucky 
painful this year. The good news is
that there aren’t any major tax code
changes to navigate.
“Most of the major changes were
last year with the 2018 Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act,” Harris. “The changes
from 2017 to 2018 were major and
numerous. This year, the 2019 tax
filing year, mostly continues the
changes made the previous year.”
One change Harris is excited
about is that the requirement for
health insurance — the so-called
“individual mandate” — was struck
down by a federal appeals court as
unconstitutional.
“We no longer have to ask folks
about their health insurance cover-
age, and they no longer get penal-
ized,” Harris said, added that those
who are insured through the “Mar-
ketplace” will still need to file their
1095-A.
New retirees should remember
that how much of their social
security is taxable depends on how
much other income, aside from
social security, they have.
“If all they have is social security,
they won’t even need to file,” Harris
said. “But if they have over a certain
amount of other income, social
security begins to be taxable. If too
much of it is taxable, they may need
M arch 2020