Prepaying taxes

[murph1]

Anyone prepaying their property taxes now for 2018? My accountant called and advised me to do so due to new tax law.

 

[Zippo1]

Anyone prepaying their property taxes now for 2018? My accountant called and advised me to do so due to new tax law.

It seems like the question of whether doing so will be allowed or result in a deduction is still on the table:

Here is what you need to know about whether you can deduct prepaid property taxes under new tax bill - The Washington Post

 

[Dutch445]

i did mine today, along with January's mortgage payment,
gives me some extra stuff to itemize for 2017 taxes that i won't need
in 2018 with the $24K standard deduction..
looking at the changes, with the larger standard deduction,
and the loss of personal exemptions, i'll wash about even.
there was quite a few people in my local town office in line to
pay today, they were closed tues/wed of this week for Christmas.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Pay now... pay later. The IRS is still gonna bone you, it's what they do...

 

[MossRoad]

With our property taxes at less than $600 per year, and us NEVER ever being able to beat the standard deduction after itemizing for 32 years, it doesn't concern me in our situation. I'm always amazed at the complexity of others' taxes. I know there are reasons like business, health catastrophies, high tax areas, etc... just never applied to us or anyone in our immediate families.

 

[dasranger]

My wife makes charitable contributions to an organization on a monthly basis. I told her to write a check now to cover 2018. For us, our total charitable contributions will be about 50 percent less next year. Our trips to Goodwill will be less and not require a receipt from now on.

 

[teejk]

The IRS made an announcement yesterday on this very topic. It clarifies that the taxes must be paid in 2017 AND "assessed" (estimates are not allowed...you need the bill). That "assessment" thing varies by jurisdiction. I paid 1/2 of mine today (would have been due January 31 anyway). Paying the whole thing didn't make much of a difference and would have resulted in the loss of a Wisconsin tax credit.

 

[nybirdman]

Just paid mine per advise from my CPA.I had to call the county to get the exact amount.Don't know if it will matter in my situation but they had to be paid by Jan.31 any-way.I have a small business so it may help me.

 

[oosik]

I take the standard deduction, don't itemize so - no help to me.

 

[plowhog]

I paid numerous property taxes early. Fortunately I had a bill in hand for each-- even though the next installment(s) were not due until 2018. One of my pet peeves is that property taxes in various counties and states do not have uniform due dates. But I guess I should be glad to have that problem! :laughing:

btw, the IRS announcement was only an "advisory," not a ruling. So like many things, you do what is best and things will unfold to where you learned if it was a good thing to do or not. Things could change in the future. But I think you are pretty safe pre-paying taxes if you already have a (future) bill in hand.

 

[sseelhoff]

Paid ours on Tuesday. We always pay before the end of the year.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Paidmine back in july for the year to get a reduction. Wont get next yrs bill till next july.

Sent from my VS986 using TractorByNet mobile app

 

[dragoneggs]

Can't prepay where we are. Here is an article on the subject with IRS guidance.

IRS says homeowners can only prepay property taxes if they’ve got the bill | The Seattle Times

 

[John Fitzgerald]

They do not accept prepayments here. The books don't open until sometime in late February 2018. I tried to pay last year in early Feb, and was turned away.

 

[Rustyiron]

I understand it to be that r/e taxes will be deductible up to $10k :confused3:
This makes sense why only the very blue, high property tax states (Cali, NY, NJ, etc) are complaining so loudly. Most of the country will be un touched by this if I understand this correctly.

 

[teejk]

I understand it to be that r/e taxes will be deductible up to $10k :confused3:
This makes sense why only the very blue, high property tax states (Cali, NY, NJ, etc) are complaining so loudly. Most of the country will be un touched by this if I understand this correctly.

Going forward real estate taxes will be "bundled" with state/local income taxes and the total will be subject to the $10k limit. The bigger issue is that the standard deduction increases such that many people will no longer itemize, hence the advice to pre-pay in 2017 and get some benefit from taxes that might not provide any benefit if paid next year (kind of a "double dip" in a way but perfectly legal and really only relevant in this "transition" year).

 

[teejk]

I paid numerous property taxes early. Fortunately I had a bill in hand for each-- even though the next installment(s) were not due until 2018. One of my pet peeves is that property taxes in various counties and states do not have uniform due dates. But I guess I should be glad to have that problem! :laughing:

btw, the IRS announcement was only an "advisory," not a ruling. So like many things, you do what is best and things will unfold to where you learned if it was a good thing to do or not. Things could change in the future. But I think you are pretty safe pre-paying taxes if you already have a (future) bill in hand.

Actually the guidance can be relied upon I think. And actually it might be generous in some states. The real test should have been whether a "lien date" (as opposed to an "assessment date") is fixed before the end of the year. Guess they didn't want to have to explain that.

 

[TheMan419]

The real issue is the increase in the standard deduction. That will make most itemized returns go away. Right now something like 1/3 of all returns are itemized. The prediction is less than 10% will be itemized.

One of the big losers is predicted to be charities. If you give to a charity you get a deduction (if you itemize). Now if you don't itemize you are not getting that deduction. That will cause some people to give less.

 

[teejk]

The real issue is the increase in the standard deduction. That will make most itemized returns go away. Right now something like 1/3 of all returns are itemized. The prediction is less than 10% will be itemized.

One of the big losers is predicted to be charities. If you give to a charity you get a deduction (if you itemize). Now if you don't itemize you are not getting that deduction. That will cause some people to give less.

Wait a minute...currently you give $1 to a charity so that you get back 15 cents (or 20 or 25 or 35 cents depending on your bracket)? Does that mean that the federal government in effect "matches" your contributions? I don't buy that logic. IMHO people give to charities because they want to. The increased standard deductions are in effect assuming that you will continue to give (or pay taxes), you just don't have to keep track of them all.

 

[Stimw]

None of the news articles that I have seen and no one here has suggested just maybe these high tax states could learn to get by with less like the other states have done.
Tax and spend!