That's a really good point I hadn't considered! My property taxes are around $8k, and with state income tax on top of that, I'm definitely hitting that $10k SALT cap. Maybe that's partly why my mortgage interest doesn't seem to be helping at all with my taxes. Would you say it made sense for you to keep your mortgage or are you considering paying it off too?

I'm in a similar position to you - considering whether to keep or pay off my mortgage. For me, the math works out that I'm getting very minimal tax benefit from the mortgage interest. I'm getting maybe a $1,000 extra deduction from itemizing versus taking the standard deduction. At a 24% tax bracket, that's saving me about $240 in taxes while I'm paying far more in interest. I'm actually planning to pay off a significant chunk of my mortgage this year. Not the whole thing, but enough to reduce my interest to the point where I'll just take the standard deduction going forward. The psychological benefit of having a much smaller mortgage outweighs the tiny tax advantage for me.

That's actually a really good point about inflation. I never thought about it that way. $300k today will be worth a lot less in purchasing power 20 years from now, but you're still paying it back with those cheaper future dollars.

Does it cover more recent tax law changes like the TCJA and SECURE Act? I've found many tax books become outdated quickly when tax laws change.

It does cover TCJA changes pretty thoroughly, especially how they impact real estate investors with the new QBI deduction and business interest limitations. The SECURE Act coverage is more limited though, mainly focusing on the elimination of the stretch IRA and changes to RMD ages. The publisher does offer annual updates on their website that cover more recent changes, which helps keep the content relevant even as tax laws evolve. I've found this combination of the book plus the online updates works better than waiting for completely new editions.

I've used both. They're good for filling out forms but terrible for actually understanding the tax code. They just tell you what to do without explaining why or how things work together. Fine if you just want to file, useless if you want to learn and optimize.

Wait I didn't even think about state taxes! Do I need to file a separate form for that or is it all part of the same tax return?

It depends on your state. Most states have their own version of Schedule C that you'll fill out along with your state tax return. You'll generally use the same income and expense information that you report on your federal Schedule C. Some states also have a lower threshold for filing requirements than the federal $400 self-employment threshold, so even if you somehow made less than $400, you might still need to file a state return. Check your specific state's tax department website for the exact requirements and forms you'll need.

Most tax software can definitely handle self-employment income. I used TurboTax last year for my tutoring side gig and it walked me through everything step by step. It asked about expenses and calculated all the self-employment tax automatically. Just make sure you get the Self-Employed version, not the basic one.

1 Thanks for this additional info! The only gifts I gave were those three payments for my kids' down payments. I'm widowed, so no spouse to worry about for gift splitting. I definitely didn't exceed $17,000 per person - each payment was exactly $15,000 since that was the exclusion limit I remembered from a few years ago (before it increased).

22 You're all set then! The annual exclusion was $15,000 for 2018-2021, then increased to $16,000 for 2022, and $17,000 for 2023. Since your gifts were $15,000 each, you're well under the threshold even for 2022. And being widowed means you don't need to worry about the gift-splitting election. Just keep good records of these gifts for your own files - dates, amounts, and recipients. This can be helpful in case questions ever arise in the future, but you definitely don't need to file Form 709.

19 Gift tax extensions work differently than income tax extensions. Form 8892 extends the deadline to October 15th, but only if you also filed an extension for your income tax return (Form 1040). If you didn't extend your 1040, the 709 extension only goes to April 15th plus 6 months, which would also be October 15th. So either way, October 15th would be your deadline.

Do you happen to know which states have different deadlines? I'm working on returns for clients in multiple states and now I'm worried...

I don't have a comprehensive list, but I know California strictly enforces their own cutoff time. New York and Illinois have occasionally had different timing requirements too, especially during extension periods. The safest approach is to check each state's department of revenue website directly. Most will have a specific notice about e-filing deadlines on their homepage this time of year. If you can't find clear information, finish those multi-state returns at least 24 hours before the federal deadline to be safe.

YES! This happened to me with Drake last year. The system was crawling and I nearly missed the deadline. This year I'm finishing everything by noon on the final day just to avoid the stress.