Should you itemize this tax season? Some important things to keep in mind for 2020.

Should you itemize this tax season? That is a common question for many taxpayers this season. Are you holding off seeing an accountant because you aren’t sure whether or not you will need to itemize?

I’m sorry to tell you, the only way you’ll truly know whether or not you should itemize is to ask a tax professional. But since (good) accountants charge by the hour, you might want to prepare the proper documentation before you step foot into an accountant’s office.

That’s understandable. We’ll help you navigate the big questions of deductions and whether or not you should itemize your tax return for the 2019 tax season. Then we’ll instruct you as to what types of documentation you’ll need to collect if you do decide to itemize.

Should you take the standard deduction? 

For the 2019 tax season, the standard deduction is up to $12,200 for a single person. This means most taxpayers are going to take the standard deduction.

Here is a chart breaking down both the standard deduction for the 2019 tax season (the taxes you’re currently prepping) and the 2020 tax season (next year’s tax return).

If you’re wondering what makes this number change year to year, you can blame tax changes (the 2018 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act bumped the standard single person deduction from $6,000 to $12,000) and inflation.  Congress adjusts the amount of the standard deduction to accommodate inflation.

The big boost in the standard deduction means that anywhere between 85 and 95% of taxpayers won’t need to itemize. We’ll help you determine if you’re part of that approximately 13% that the IRS estimates will itemize for the 2019 tax season.

How do you know if you should itemize? 

You’ll have to add it up.

Check your filing status (and the filing status of a spouse or any dependents). Find out what the standard deduction is for your status. Then add up all your expenses and see if you come in under, close to, or over the standard deduction.

A good accountant would help you maximize what you can write off, but you can get a gist of what you’ll need if you prepare ahead of time.

Start by finding out if you can itemize these 4 major deductions:

• Charitable contributions

• Medical Expenses

• Mortgage interest

• State and local taxes (think property and sales tax)

Medical expenses and mortgage interest alone might be high enough to put you over the threshold.  If you haven’t made it over the approximate $12k yet, continue by assessing how much you can deduct from these expenses:

• Casualty, disaster and theft losses

• Business expenses

• Tax preparation fees

• Investment interest

• Mileage on a vehicle

• Home office deductions

This covers a lot of areas where you might commonly receive a deduction.  The business deduction point will be a particularly tricky one if you aren’t strict about your record-keeping.

Remember, you don’ t need to get an exact count, you just need to get a rough idea of what you’ll need. That way you spend less time in the accountant’s office and more time doing what you do best.

Who might want to itemize? 

If you aren’t into adding up all the numbers, here are some categories of person who might want to itemize:

• You run your own business – You have to spend money to make money, which means you’re making less money than it looks like on paper.

• You have a high-interest rate on your mortgage.

• You had a lot of medical expenses in the past year.

• You pay for your own healthcare out of pocket.

If you’re even questioning whether or not you meet the threshold to itemize, its time to schedule a meeting with an accountant. This post helped you determine whether or not your tax situation might warrant itemizing deductions, now talk to your local tax advisor to find out for certain.