HAPPY NEW YEAR!          

My family and I hope you had a blessed holiday season.  We are so very grateful for your faithfulness as friends and clients. Again, I am looking forward to helping you be successful and pay no more taxes than necessary.

We have had some family health-related issues that require some changes in hours and schedule this tax season. Office hours will be Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In order to accommodate those who are unable to come during those hours, we have installed a drop box in our door to allow you to drop off papers after hours. The client portal is also available 24 hours a day for information uploads. I will be working from Oklahoma for part of the tax season. We value your trust in us to provide your tax preparation needs and certainly appreciate your understanding of our circumstances during this season.

FEDERAL CHANGES FOR 2019

• Tuition and fee deduction for higher education (This is not to be confused with the various tax credits also available for tuition.).
• Mortgage interest premium deduction (PMI).
• The threshold for deducting medical expenses has been lowered to 7.5% of your adjusted gross income – down from 10%. This means it will be easier for you to write off out-of-pocket medical expenses.
• Energy property tax credit for certain energy improvements on your home.
• Affordable Care Act or ACA – The individual mandate requiring you to have health insurance was repealed by Congress for tax year 2019, so the penalty is gone! However, if you purchased health insurance on the Marketplace Exchange, you will have been issued form 1095-A by January 31, 2020. You must bring this form to us so we can complete your return.
• The IRS has revised the tax forms again – realizing that it could not fit on a postcard!
• New reporting requirement: if at any time during 2019 you received, sold, sent, exchanged, or had a change in holdings of any virtual currency such as Bitcoin, please notify us!
• Alimony for divorces after 12/31/2018 are no longer taxable to the recipient or deductible for the payee.

FEDERAL CHANGES FOR 2020

• IRA required minimum distribution age increase to 72, up from 70 ½.
• The age limit for IRA contribution of 70 ½ was removed. This means if you have qualifying earnings you can still contribute to an IRA no matter how old you are.

FEDERAL REMINDERS

• The Child Tax Credit for children under 17 is $2,000.00 and expanded to higher income returns. You MUST have a social security number for the child by 4/15/2020, or you cannot claim the credit!
• To claim a donation on your return, you MUST have a receipt or canceled check.
• Donations $250.00 or more must have a dated acknowledgement letter from the charity. This includes non-cash items like household goods.
• The Business Mileage Rate for 2019 is 58 cents per mile.

REFUND TIMING:

The IRS will begin releasing EITC & ACTC REFUNDS starting February 28^th.

Where’s My Refund? IRS.gov will be updated with projected deposit dates a few days after a return is filed and a few days after February 28^th for those who file for EITC. 

OFFICE PROCEDURES

1. REQUIREMENT FOR EVERYONE (IRS mandates new rules): In order to help keep both you and me from penalties, please answer the questions on the questionnaire as much as possible. If you don’t recognize a form or don’t know an answer, just put a “?” mark by the question.
2. You may send your Organizer Questionnaire and tax information through our secure portal (See our portal page to receive invitation or to log in once invite).
3. You may drop the information off at our office.
4. You may mail the information to our year-round mailing address (see below).
5. You may fax the information (see fax number below).
6. New Customer Referrals are appreciated. Coupons for $25.00 for you and for your referral are available on our website Click Here.

Important Information Needed to File your Return:

1. To claim education credits or deductions, you must have Form 1098-T from the school.
2. Please make sure we have all your personal information correct, i.e. current address, telephone number(s), E-mail and current direct deposit
3. Please provide a copy of source documents for W-2’s, 1099’s, stock brokerage statements, and other tax reporting statements.
4. Please make sure we have your correct dependents, their birth dates, and their social security numbers.
5. Make sure you have provided all your income and expenses.

We look forward to serving you again this year.

Jack Pound EA, LTC

        DON’T FORGET OUR YEAR-ROUND CONTACT INFORMATION (REPLACES ALL OTHER NUMBERS/ADDRESSES):

Phone: (541) 382-7131

Fax: (888) 316-2350

For email us this link for the contact form   

Mailing address:

Northwest Tax, LLC

% Jack Pound

12494 N County Road 3400                                                

 Stratford, OK 74872