Tax Reform

Tax Expert Q&A: What Changes Do You Hope to See in Tax Reform 2.0?

by
Lee Reams II
on
9/13/2018
Tax Expert Q&A: What Changes Do You Hope to See in Tax Reform 2.0?

Republicans in Congress have recently announced yet another tax reform package, appropriately called "Tax Reform 2.0." The three new bills are already overwhelmed with controversy, which is something that should surprise absolutely nobody. But what Tax Reform 2.0 means and what real financial experts have to say, however, is certainly worth a closer look.

Tax Reform 2.0: What's Happening?

Based on what is currently known about the upcoming changes, Tax Reform 2.0 involves these three bills:

  • R. 6760, “Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018”
  • R. 6757, “Family Savings Act of 2018”
  • R. 6756, “American Innovation Act of 2018″

The first makes permanent the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's individual and small business tax cuts. The second is designed to help families "save more and earlier throughout their lives" by creating new and strengthening existing savings vehicles. The third is designed for new businesses and helps them with startup and organizational expenditures by allowing taxpayers to deduct up to $20,000 of both types of costs, rather than the $5,000 for each under the current law.

Regardless of which side of the fence you come down on, nobody is expecting a vote on this bill in the House in 2018. Whether or not the Senate will vote on it remains to be seen. So what shape Tax Reform 2.0 takes and what further changes are made still have time to materialize.

The Changes Our Experts Hope to See

Everyone has their opinions about Tax Reform 2.0; the same can be said for virtually every other politically driven topic of the day. But if there's one group of people who we probably should be paying extra careful attention to; tax professionals are certainly among them.

Recently, we sat down with a group of pros who have been through highs and lows across the industry for years. Their responses about what they expect and what they hope (and how those two things aren't necessarily always the same thing) vary wildly, but they're certainly nothing if not fascinating.

"I would like to see, as a start, the elimination of the IRS' new postcard-size Form 1040 that requires all new schedules that must be attached to supplement the tiny form that people will need to submit," says Sandra L. Reed, CPA. This one was interesting, as the fact that you can now fill out your taxes on something as small as a postcard was always supposed to be something of a selling point for the reform efforts.

"Who are we kidding!" she continued. "It is just smoke and mirrors to appease voters for promises by Congress. Requiring taxpayers and tax preparers to attach all the new schedules makes tax compliance more complex — not a move toward simplification."

Elizabeth P. Davies, CPA of Taxes Untangled, Inc. also had a list of things she hopes eventually appear in further revisions of the tax code. Her number one priority, however, has less to do with adding anything new and has more to do with fixing a mistake that she believes was created by Tax Reform 1.0.

"With the elimination of miscellaneous itemized deductions, many employees with business expenses will end up paying more in taxes. As an example, most mechanics are required to pay for their own tools which can be very expensive and now those thousands of dollars paid for tools will provide no tax benefit," she said. "I would like to see employee business expenses become an above the line (before Adjusted Gross Income) deduction, at least while the standard deduction is so high."

Terrance O'Neill of Terry O'Neill EA, LLC had a similar wishlist of items. He said, "I would very much like to see charitable contributions removed from Schedule A (itemized deductions) and moved to 'Above the Line Deductions' on the first page of Form 1040." To those who aren't in the industry this may seem like a curious request at first, but his justification was overwhelmingly clear.

Mr. O'Neill said that because of "the much higher bar to get beyond the Standard Deduction (Married Filing Jointly coming in at $24,000, Head of Household coming in at $18,000, and Single coming in at $12,000) I fear charities will see a steep drop off in donations. Many taxpayers will no longer benefit because of their inability to get beyond the new thresholds."

Cliff Davis of Davis & Langford CPAs had yet another list of items he'd like to see that, while different from his peers, fell within the same basic theme: he really hopes that things that were broken during the last attempt at tax reform are fixed during this decidedly rare second chance.

"I would like the Congress to take a second look at the Qualified Business Income deduction for pass-through entities," he said. "The limitations on service businesses put employers at a disadvantage. Many of my clients operate in these specified service industries. Doctors, lawyers, dentists and accountants have large staffs as resources to deliver the services to the public."

This represents quite a problem for these types of individuals moving forward, as per Mr. Davis, because they "do not qualify for the same benefits that are available to mechanics, real estate investors, retailers and small manufacturers."

When you're dealing with something as inherently difficult and complicated as tax reform, problems are always going to arise. You're always going to deal with mistakes and a problem in one small area of the code can have potentially major ramifications for countless people as you move on down the line. Regardless of the politicians you currently support or the political party you vote for, one thing is overwhelmingly clear from our experts: there's still a great deal of work that needs to be done.

All of them hope that Tax Reform 2.0 will turn out far better for the average American than Tax Reform 1.0. Whether or not that actually happens is something that remains to be seen.

Lee Reams II, writes for TaxBuzz, a tax news and advice website. Reach him at [email protected] or on LinkedIn

share this post
Search for matches...
Lee Reams II

Lee Reams II

CEO

I am a tax and business news junkie who has spent the last 20 years developing and executing "best in class" word-of-mouth marketing campaigns for tax and accounting professionals. With TaxBuzz and CountingWorks we have taken that same commitment to quality content directly to the consumer. Keeping you up-to-date with the latest tax law changes, business growth tips and planning strategies to help you reach your best financial outcome.

Recommended Professionals

In the face of economic uncertainty, TaxBuzz is the industry's most up-to-date tax information.

Join 60,000 who get our weekly newsletter. No spam.

Need help selecting a firm?

Use our specialized search engine and get matched to the best accounting and tax firm for your needs.

Related Posts

Latest Posts