New tax changes and deadlines in 2025

The Street

CPA and TurboTax expert Miguel Burgos discusses changes to tax credits, inflation adjustments, new deadlines, and ways to maximize your refund.

Transcript

00:00So the 2024 tax season is upon us.

00:07I know everyone's like groaning, but you got to get it done.

00:10And the good news is you have a lot of help.

00:13We have with us right now CPA and TurboTax expert Miguel Burgos, and he's going to go

00:17through the important things.

00:18So please, let's start from the top.

00:21When is the deadline?

00:22What do people need to know about this April?

00:26Well Tracy, for this 2024 tax year that we're filing out on 2025, the tax deadline for most

00:32taxpayers is April 15th, 2025.

00:35However, we know that sadly many taxpayers both in California and the south of the country,

00:40Florida, have been going through some natural disasters, wildfire, hurricane.

00:45So for some of them, they might have an additional time to file their taxes and pay their taxes

00:50if they have any balance to.

00:53In the case of the California affected counties and declare as a disaster zone by the federal

00:58government, they have until October 15th, 2025.

01:02For many of those in the south of the country in Florida affected by the hurricanes, they

01:05have until May 1st to file their tax return and pay their taxes.

01:09Now keep an eye on the IRS website so you can confirm if your county is declared as

01:17a disaster zone by the federal government and if you do qualify for that additional

01:20time to file your taxes.

01:22Yeah, and the IRS is really good about keeping their site updated, irs.gov.

01:26So please, please stay on top of that and check it out.

01:28All right, so there's a ton of new stuff this year too as well before we sit down.

01:33What kind of adjustments and things should people be aware of as they start to prepare

01:36their returns?

01:39Every year we expect some sort of change in tax law or our tax situation.

01:44However, we do have to say that for 2024 tax year compared to perhaps what we had during

01:49the pandemic or what we had in the 2017 tax reform, we don't have as many changes as

01:56with it before.

01:57However, we do have the usual inflation adjusted amounts.

02:00For example, the standard deduction, the filing requirements for single taxpayers, it's $14,600.

02:07For head of household, it's $21,900.

02:10And for married filing jointly taxpayers, it's $29,200.

02:14Additional to that, we see the usual increase in tax credits.

02:17One of them is the earned income tax credit for those with at least three qualified children.

02:23It goes up to $7,830.

02:26We also see changes in the Form 1099-K for those that are using, you know, third-party

02:32processing payments.

02:35In the past, the filing requirement was $20,000 and 200 transactions.

02:40That comes down to $5,000.

02:43Once you have over $5,000 receiving payments on either a mobile app, credit, debit card,

02:49it is likely that you will get that Form 1099-K.

02:51And something new this year is that those that use the clean vehicle credit, that purchase

02:57an electric car, in 2024, for the first time, they were able to claim the credit directly

03:03with the dealership, reducing the purchase price of the vehicle.

03:06And now when they file their 2024 return on 2025, they will have to reconciliate that

03:12credit and see if they qualify for the full amount, if they qualify for more, or perhaps

03:16if they have to return a little bit of it.

03:18So let's make sure that we access the tools that we have available.

03:23TurboTax.com, our bilingual experts, so that way you can make sure that you're up to date

03:28with all the changes and see how they apply to you.

03:30Yeah, that's super important.

03:32All right.

03:33So the other thing that people always are worried about is that refund and how do I

03:36make it bigger?

03:37So what are some quick things people could do to maximize their refunds?

03:41Yes, well, we start from simple to complex.

03:45Simple things that make a significant difference.

03:48Start filing your return as soon as possible.

03:51That way you have the time to research, to consult, to see what's the best options for

03:57your taxes.

03:58So from early on, right now, start gathering your income documents, W-2s, 1099, any deductions,

04:05any medical expenses, charitable contributions, any state tax that you made, either property

04:13tax, income tax, sales tax that you pay to the state, and also any information related

04:17to credits, your full names, dates of birth, social security numbers for you, your spouse,

04:24and dependents.

04:25Yeah.

04:26So get yourself organized and start to think about things.

04:29All right.

04:30And finally, I'm a big proponent of filing early, even though sometimes I have to admit

04:34I do come down to the wire, but my kids are pretty much done already.

04:37So I'm trying to instill that.

04:39Why should people file early other than for the obvious reason to get it off your plate?

04:43Well, Tracy, to start, the average refund, it's about the same of what it was last year.

04:48So it's a little bit over $3,000.

04:50For most taxpayers, it's a significant amount of money that they can use for multiple things.

04:58Additional to that, it's also safe in the sense that with so much fraud going on, the

05:03earlier you file, the less likely that somebody will be able to steal your information from

05:07you, your spouse, your dependents, and use that information to file your taxes.

05:11The IRS e-filing system is designed to only allow one tax return, claiming either with

05:18a taxpayer social security number, a spouse, or a dependent.

05:21So the earlier you do it, the more safe you are when it comes to tax fraud.

05:26Additional to that, we have multiple options in TurboTax.

05:31We still have the TurboTax Free Edition.

05:34Those taxpayers that have a simple tax return, by that meaning filing a 1040 with no additional

05:39schedules up to $1,500 on interest and dividend income, they can claim the Earned Income Tax

05:47Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and they can also claim student loan interest deduction.

05:52So for those taxpayers, they can file free.

05:54But additional to that, up to February 18th, if you use the mobile app and you switch to

06:00TurboTax, you can file for free your taxes for individuals regardless of their complexity.

06:07And that's up to February 18th.

06:08So that's another reason to file as soon as possible.

06:11Yeah, and it's a good one.

06:14Thank you so much for sharing all this stuff with us, CPA and TurboTax expert Miguel Burgos.

06:19Thank you again.

06:20Oh, my pleasure.

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