What REALTORS Need to Know About the New Tax Law

Changes to the U.S. Tax Code that potentially can save you thousands of dollars were enacted last year as part of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act. The changes include a new deduction available to you as an independent contractor or sole proprietor for reducing your tax liability by 20 percent. How to take this deduction and apply other changes in the law are discussed in a series of video tutorials released by NAR last month.

The tutorials are timely now that the year is winding down and final 2018 tax filings need to be submitted to the IRS.

The tutorials are organized into a dozen topics that affect your taxes, both as a real estate professional and as a homeowner or renter. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the changes and to pass along this email to your colleagues.

1: An Introduction to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

Segments

• Introduction to the series (0:13)(link is external)
• 3 driving forces of tax act (2:33)(link is external)
• What each video covers (5:13)(link is external)

2: Major Changes Affecting Individuals

Segments

• Changes in tax rates (0:33)(link is external)
• Higher standard deduction (5:54)(link is external)
• Loss of personal exemptions (10:55)(link is external)
• Doubled child credit (13:03)(link is external)

3: Changes Affecting Tax Incentives of Owning a Home