Filing your taxes can be difficult the older you get, but thanks to a brand new form that has been created for taxpayers over the age of 65, this will no longer be a problem!

Money is a part of your whole life. From the first time you asked for an allowance to the first dollar of retirement that you spend. Taxes, too, are just as prevalent once we start earning money, and will follow us through until the end of our lifetime. We are a family company here at Hoods, and we want to help and care for all of our families in Goose Creek. We have made it and are now just a few weeks past 2020's new tax day of July 15th. We will be busy over the next few weeks helping all of our amazing clients get their tax paperwork finished and taken care of. As we finish up this year's tax season, we wanted to take some time to talk about our seniors and retire clients, and share some exciting news for their next tax season.

Doing taxes has now become easier than ever before thanks to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, according to CPA Practice Advisor. As part of this new act, the IRS has made special tax forms for senior taxpayers, the 1040-SR US Tax return forms. These forms come with larger fonts and better readability. With the fonts being larger, the forms will now be two pages instead of one. To help with readability, you will also see a change in the coloring of the forms. Any shading that had been previously used around text boxes has been removed. Even better, these forms are available to fill out both online or in their paper form that can be submitted through the mail. The IRS, since they released these new forms, have "wanted seniors to know about the availability of this new tax form" and we will gladly help them spread the word. The form, along with its new features will include a standard deduction chart, too.

We understand that the process of learning and growing through each wave of taxes in your life is hard. From learning how to do it for the first time, learning how to file for the first time as a married couple, and learning how to file once you retire and begin collecting from social security is all hard to keep up with. Thanks to the 1040-SR forms, the IRS is taking steps to ease at least one of these transitions while we are here to help with the rest.

You don't have to be retired to use these forms either. As long as you were born on Jan 2, 1955, and before, they are available to you. If you are still working, have multiple sources of income, are receiving social security, annuities, or more, these new forms allow you to report on all of it. Not only is the readability much better, it's aimed at cutting down on extra work and stress. The from even allows you to choose to take the standardized deduction or itemize your deductions. The chart that is provided on these new forms will make taking that standardized deduction much easier. If the taxpayer wants to itemize, they will just need to include the Schedule A itemized deduction paperwork with their 1040-SR return. Also, according to CPA Practice Advisor, these new forms make sure that seniors are "aware of the incredible standardized deductions for taxpayers 65 years and older."

What if your partner isn't 65 years or older but you are, and you plan to file together? That's ok! You will still be able to file together and you can use the new 1040-SR form to do so if you wish. According to CBS News, this will make filing taxes easier for at least 10% of over 150 million Americans who file their taxes. It will also, thanks to its new set up, allow seniors to use the form to see if they'll be getting a refund or not right away and to know what amount they will be receiving. It will give this generation of taxpayers the freedom to continue to handle their taxes and their finances, which we love to see. Seniors who have a dependent child or grandchild are still able to take a tax credit for them as well with these forms. Ironically, as much as we have been thanking the IRS for these new forms, it was thanks to a very long battle fought and won by congress that made the 1040-SR forms a reality.

Now that this tax season has come to a close with the passing of July 15th, please keep these new forms in mind for preparing and filing your 2020 taxes next year. We could still see more financial changes in what remains of 2020, so filing may be even more unique next year than we can guess. We will be here to help you through these changes if they appear. But, if you haven't been aware of these new forms, we hope that they will help you in the future. We are here to support you and our amazing community of Goose Creek! If you are looking for the best accounting services in Goose Creek, the best tax preparation in Goose Creek, business consulting in Goose Creek, bookkeeping in Goose Creek, or payroll services in Goose Creek, we are here for you! Our phone lines and inboxes are waiting for you. Don't hesitate! Please stay safe, everyone. We will see you soon!