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Old 12-22-2017, 08:44 AM   #61
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Your CPA is weeding through the same 1097 pages as the rest of us ...
This.

There's nothing wrong with searching the internet for opinions, but the most reliable method is to read the bill itself and see if you can find the answer to your questions. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/18/prep...-gop-bill.html

Had I done that immediately (see my posts 10, 21, 22, and 23) I would have saved myself and others some confusion.

Don't be intimidated by its 1100 pages. Any PDF reader will have a search function that will allow you to look for things like "home equity" or "equity" where you have a question. Probably you will find your own answer, but if not you can still go back to searching opinions.
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Old 12-22-2017, 08:47 AM   #62
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Thanks - I hadn't seen that. Is that only for taxpayers above age 65, or for all?
Seems like this would be a bigger deal in 2017 when the standard deduction is lower.
For everyone
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Old 12-22-2017, 08:47 AM   #63
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Anyone find any decent detailed tax calculators for 2018 that take into account the new law? The one's I have seen are very simplistic when it comes to income, business income, etc.
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Old 12-22-2017, 09:15 AM   #64
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Our charity auction raked in 3× normal .... guess that's a common one. Writing check myself
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Old 12-22-2017, 09:36 AM   #65
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In addition to actually reading the bill I found this KPMG paper: https://home.kpmg.com/content/dam/kp...dec18-2017.pdf which is pretty easy reading. It was based on the conference committee report; I don't know if any substantive tweeks were made after that point. I looked on the KPMG web site and could not find whether there is an updated version of this report yet.
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Old 12-22-2017, 10:44 AM   #66
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Originally Posted by OldShooter View Post
Don't be intimidated by its 1100 pages. Any PDF reader will have a search function that will allow you to look for things like "home equity" or "equity" where you have a question. Probably you will find your own answer, but if not you can still go back to searching opinions.
Also note that the actual bill itself is the first 500 pages or so and the last half is a much more readable explanation of what the legalese actually means. There is a table of contents for the second half around page 511 or so where each provision is listed. The discussion that follows then lists what the current situation is, what the House version would have done, what the Senate version would have done, and then finally - the most important part - what the conference committee decided as the final version.

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It was based on the conference committee report; I don't know if any substantive tweeks were made after that point. I looked on the KPMG web site and could not find whether there is an updated version of this report yet.
There were three minor changes to the bill after conference committee:

"The parliamentarian, a sort of umpire for Senate rules, determined that three elements of the bill violated the Byrd rule:

1. The name. The short name of the bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, appears to be placed incorrectly in the legislation.
2. Changes to the so-called 529 savings plan. The bill would have allowed money in the college-savings accounts to be used for homeschooling supplies.
3. The exemption for small colleges from a new excise tax. The bill had proposed a tax on college and university endowments exceeding $500,000 for every student enrolled, but it included a provision that would have exempted those with fewer than 500 tuition-paying students. The parliamentarian struck only the words "tuition-paying," the Ways and Means representative said."

From House to revote on Trump, Republican tax reform bill due to Senate Byrd rule - Business Insider
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Old 12-22-2017, 01:21 PM   #67
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My 401k plan (and others, I’m sure) allow after tax deductions but not an actual Roth 401k. They allow a once per calendar year rollover of those funds tax free to a Roth or taxed to a tIRA. So basically, I had been fully funding a Roth, plus a larger backdoor Roth each year. So next year all Roth will be at 22% instead of 25, so the increased amount to the Roth is a little better. But I only have another 2 years left at most, so it's effect will just mostly be for effect, similar to the small remaining Roth rollovers I will do to reduce RMDs while delaying SS (which is now a little easier as well since funding that from tIRA funds. . Even $60k is only a savings of $1800. But every little bit helps. Since the plan isn’t to tap the Roth until after 2027, and mainly to avoid bumping to the next bracket it all adds up.
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Old 12-22-2017, 02:18 PM   #68
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Wouldn't the conversion make more sense after your son is done with College? Any converted dollars become "available" as income. CSS profile schools will love you if you make that conversion.
Possibly. I plan to make the conversion anyway, all things being considered.

Not to get into the whole thing here, feel free to PM more questions or ask for more details, but:

1. My kids are generally considering FAFSA schools and not CSS profile schools.
2. Even with the conversion my income will be quite low.
3. There is official guidance that financial aid officers are expected to adjust for Roth conversions because, although they generally increase AGI, they generally are not available to be spent on college costs, at least for FAFSA purposes. I don't know much about CSS profile and how it works in this regard.
4. I kinda need the money to live on five or six years from now since I am retired and the conversion this year is part of my Roth pipeline.

Hope that helps explain.
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Old 12-22-2017, 02:45 PM   #69
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Well, since I itemized and showed about $16000 in itemized expense in 2017 it seemed like a no brainer to pre-pay the roughly $5500 in property taxes we'll be assessed in 2018. Except. Callled Polk county Oregon and Riverside county California tax offices and neither is accepting payments that have not yet been assessed. We normally pay in full as soon as the property tax statements come out - how do others manage to bunch those payments? The Oregon office said they were precluded by Oregon law from accepting payments not assessed.
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Old 12-22-2017, 02:49 PM   #70
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Sadly, our our town tax collector won't accept any prepayment of next year's expected property taxes either.


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We normally pay in full as soon as the property tax statements come out - how do others manage to bunch those payments?
The way it works here is that you get a bill at the end of May. It is due in two equal installments - one in July and one in January. You could bunch them by paying January, July and December in one year, and just July the next. So you'd get 1.5 years in itemized property taxes one year and take the standard deduction the next.
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Old 12-22-2017, 03:19 PM   #71
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I always pay my real estate taxes early. The county discounts the bill 4% if paid by early December.
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Old 12-22-2017, 03:21 PM   #72
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Well, since I itemized and showed about $16000 in itemized expense in 2017 it seemed like a no brainer to pre-pay the roughly $5500 in property taxes we'll be assessed in 2018. Except. Callled Polk county Oregon and Riverside county California tax offices and neither is accepting payments that have not yet been assessed. We normally pay in full as soon as the property tax statements come out - how do others manage to bunch those payments? The Oregon office said they were precluded by Oregon law from accepting payments not assessed.
Totally dependent upon your local tax collector. Turns out we can pre-pay in our county, as well as Cook County residents (Chicago and suburbs).

Some discussion here as well:

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ml#post1984159

-ERD50
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Old 12-22-2017, 03:59 PM   #73
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We don't itemize, but since DD is in private elementary school (and will probably attend private HS) we will add more money to her 529 plan.
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Old 12-22-2017, 04:09 PM   #74
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With keeping my eye on ACA cliff, no change in my plans for this year. No incentive to pre-pay or bunch expenses as other than having to pay back a portion of my ACA tax credit (took my max of LTCG at 0% just to the cliff) I owe no taxes.
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Old 12-22-2017, 04:09 PM   #75
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Your CPA is weeding through the same 1097 pages as the rest of us (think its on pgs 595-600) ... confusion reigns. But Motley Fool usually is close:

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/...omeowners.aspx


Yes, thanks, I found something similar yesterday, prompting me to call my CPA. He agreed that since our HELOC was used 100% for home remodel costs, the interest will likely still be deductible. He did express a caveat that he has not yet read the new tax code and therefore could not express a firm opinion yet.

Based on this, since our HELOC rate is only 4.24% and will likely remain deductible, we are not executing the payoff. Would rather have the liquidity at least for now.
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Old 12-22-2017, 04:13 PM   #76
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I’m wondering if any of you are facing the same IRA/401K questions that I am facing. This question is for people like me who are not yet retired, but are trying to plan for ER. As I understand it, only the corporate tax cuts in the bill are permanent. The individual tax cuts are not, and for many, the tax rates will be higher in 2027 than they otherwise would have been.
uy understanding is that without future income tax law changes, rates will return to 2017 rates, not higher. But without further changes, effective rates will be somewhat/a bit higher for those that itemize due to reduced deductions. But in 2008, did I have any idea what 2018 rates would be?
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Old 12-22-2017, 04:59 PM   #77
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Well, since I itemized and showed about $16000 in itemized expense in 2017 it seemed like a no brainer to pre-pay the roughly $5500 in property taxes we'll be assessed in 2018. Except. Callled Polk county Oregon and Riverside county California tax offices and neither is accepting payments that have not yet been assessed. We normally pay in full as soon as the property tax statements come out - how do others manage to bunch those payments? The Oregon office said they were precluded by Oregon law from accepting payments not assessed.
For Riverside County, CA, do you not already have a 2017-2018 tax bill with a second part that is due in Feb 2018 (delinquent if not paid by Apr 10, 2018)? That's the part that you can pay before the end of 2017. It's already been assessed.
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Old 12-22-2017, 05:59 PM   #78
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I'm not doing anything differently due to the new tax laws.
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Old 12-22-2017, 06:50 PM   #79
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For Riverside County, CA, do you not already have a 2017-2018 tax bill with a second part that is due in Feb 2018 (delinquent if not paid by Apr 10, 2018)? That's the part that you can pay before the end of 2017. It's already been assessed.
Assessed and paid - the second half was small enough that 4 months of bank interest earnings on it didn't matter compared with not having to think about it.
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Old 12-22-2017, 09:03 PM   #80
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Changing all my spreadsheets to reflect new rates. The current marginal tax hump, without dividends, is 46.25%, 185% of 25%. The new rate is now 40.7%, 185% of 22%. The max including dividend triple taxation is down from 55.5% to 49.95%.


The new rates also increase the amount we can withdraw from our IRAs each year before hitting those Hump tax rates.
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