Posted on 01/21/2019 5:41:43 PM PST by Jamestown1630
I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out a change in my tax situation, and hope that I'm just stupidly missing something.
I turned 65 last year, and I only learned today that I should be eligible for an increased exemption on my federal taxes - it appears to be $1,300 for our situation.
But when I look at the 1040 form, I can't see where you enter that amount, or see a line for it. There's a box to check if you turned 65, but I don't see what you do after that.
Our taxes have always been very simple (obviously) and I'm assuming there's some kind of schedule or other form for this; but I can't find one that addresses it among those on the IRS site.
Apologies if this is a very stupid question, but if anyone can enlighten me I'd be grateful. All the answers I'm finding are older and refer one to form 1040A - which doesn't exist anymore.
Well, I’m just pleased to get a bigger standard deduction - and I get it from the State, too. I wasn’t even aware of this until today :-)
The old Personal Exemption was used whether you took the Standard Deduction or Itemized Deductions.
LOL!
if you DO itemize, does that mean you don’t get the old people credit?.....
H&R Tax Software bump! Easy to do, minimal cost. Well worth it in saved time and frustration.
First year is the most difficult as you have to input everything. In years after that they import your last year’s return and you go from there. Simple.
Been using tax prep software since 2003. I’m spoiled. Would not consider going back to paper forms and hard to understand and sometimes contradictory instructions.
"What About Tax Deductions? Seniors who fill out Form 1040SR must take the standard deduction. Remember that if you're 65 or over, you are entitled to an additional $1,300. For an individual, that would raise the standard deduction to $13,300 for tax year 2019, the first year you can use the form. For a married couple, if one is 65 or over the deduction would rise to $25,300. And if both are: $26,600."
See your Tax Adviser to be sure.
Looks like 1040SR is to come. I didn’t find it on the IRS website.
Many places give decent discounts on property taxes - never heard that just being over 65 changed regular tax loads...I’m 66 and wife is 68
Ah, I saw this thread and the page 40 reference threw me slightly too.
I doubt any small business owner is not aware of it by now, but, the (up to) 20% deduction for small business owners (Section 199A deduction) is quite nice too. It is in particular “nice” if one’s spouse works some other job, as that helps get the full deduction, in many cases.
If you itemize and have a large enough deduction that you would use the itemized figure instead of the Standard Deduction, then yes, technically you would lose the “old person’s deduction” since it’s built into the Standard Deduction - but you wouldn’t need it because you would be taking a larger amount off of your income with the itemized number than with the Standard Deduction anyway......
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