It is that time of year again where you should consider meeting with a tax professional to discuss any year end strategies that might reduce your 2022 taxes. The following are some of the tax breaks from which you may benefit, as well as the strategies that you could use to minimize your taxable income and the resulting federal tax liability for 2022.

Expenses Incurred While Working from Home

Although more people are working from home these days, related expenses are not deductible if you are an employee. TCJA eliminated the deductibility of such expenses when it suspended the deduction for miscellaneous itemized expenses that was available before 2018. However, if you are self-employed and worked from home during the year, tax deductions are still available. Thus, if you have been working from home as an independent contractor, you should discuss what expenses you have incurred that might reduce your taxable income.

Mortgage Interest Deduction

If you sold your principal residence during the year and acquired a new principal residence, the deduction for any interest on your acquisition indebtedness (i.e., your mortgage) could be limited. The mortgage interest deduction on mortgages of more than $750,000 obtained after December 14, 2017, is limited to the portion of the interest allocable to $750,000 ($375,000 in the case of married taxpayers filing separately). If you have a mortgage on a principal residence acquired before December 15, 2017, the limitation applies to mortgages of $1,000,000 ($500,000 in the case of married taxpayers filing separately) or less. However, if you operate a business from your home, an allocable portion of your mortgage interest is not subject to these limitations.

Interest on Home Equity Indebtedness

You can potentially deduct interest paid on home equity indebtedness, but only if you used the debt to buy, build, or substantially improve your home. Thus, for example, interest on a home equity loan used to build an addition to your existing home is typically deductible, while interest on the same loan used to pay personal expenses, such as credit card debt, is not.

Sale of a Home 

If you sold your home this year, up to $250,000 ($500,000 for married filing jointly) of the gain on the sale is excludible from income. However, this amount is reduced if part of your home was rented out or used for business purposes. Generally, a loss on the sale of a home is not deductible. But again, if you rented part of your home or otherwise used it for business, the loss attributable to that portion of the home is deductible.

Discharge of Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness

If you had any qualified principal residence indebtedness which was discharged in 2022, it is not includible in gross income.

Deductions for Mortgage Insurance Premiums

You may be entitled to treat amounts paid during the year for any qualified mortgage insurance as deductible qualified residence interest if the insurance was obtained in connection with acquisition debt for a qualified residence.

Deductions for Excess Business Losses

Taxpayers other than corporations can deduct excess farm losses; however such taxpayers cannot deduct excess business losses. An excess business loss for the tax year is the excess of aggregate deductions attributable to your trades or businesses over the sum of your aggregate gross income or gain plus a threshold amount. The threshold amount for 2022 is $270,000 or $540,000 for joint returns.

Qualified Business Income Passthrough Tax Break

Under the qualified business income tax break, a 20 percent deduction is allowed for qualified business income from sole proprietorships, S corporations, partnerships, and LLCs taxed as partnerships. If you qualify for the deduction, which is available to both itemizers and nonitemizers, it is taken on your individual tax return as a reduction to taxable income. This tax break is subject to some complicated restrictions and limitations, but the rules that apply to individuals with taxable income at or below a certain threshold ($340,100 for joint filers; $170,050 for other taxpayers) are simpler and more permissive than the rules that apply to individuals with income above those thresholds.

Child Tax Credit 

The enhanced child tax credit (CTC) that was available last year was not renewed. Thus, for 2022, for each child under age 17, a CTC of up to $2,000 credit is available, depending on your modified adjusted income. In addition, a $500 nonrefundable credit is available for qualifying dependents other than qualifying children. Where the credit exceeds the maximum amount of tax due, it may be refundable. The maximum amount refundable for 2022 is $1,500 per qualifying child. The $500 credit applies to two categories of dependents: (1) qualifying children for whom a child tax credit is not allowed, and (2) qualifying relatives. The amount of the credit is reduced for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $200,000 ($400,000 for married filing jointly) and eliminated in full for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $240,000 ($440,000 for married filing jointly).

  Hiring a tax resolution expert is the best action a taxpayer could take in a tax matter before the IRS or a state tax authority. 

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