President Signs Eleventh-Hour Agreement To Avert Fiscal Cliff
The 2012 American Taxpayer Relief Act answers many questions and raises others, this is a comprehensive and complicated bill. This post is Part 3 of 3 this week as we take a closer look at a few of the key points in this new legislation. Please note that I will not be posting the complete text of the bill here, however a full copy can be provided to you upon request. For specific discussions on how these changes may impact you and your tax situation feel free to contact Paul Muret at (918) 301-1100.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act extends permanently the $1,000 child tax credit. Certain enhancements to the credit under Bush-era legislation and subsequent legislation are also made permanent.
Absent the American Taxpayer Relief Act, the child tax credit was scheduled to revert after 2012 to $500 per qualifying child (dependents under age 17 at the close of the year). The child tax credit has been set at the $1,000 level since 2003 and is not adjusted each year for inflation. The American Taxpayer Relief Act keeps the child tax credit at the $1,000 level, still without inflation adjustments, for future years.
Bush-era and subsequent legislation modified the refundable component of the child tax credit, provided that the refundable portion of the credit does not constitute income, provided that the credit is allowable against regular income tax and AMT, repealed the AMT offset against the additional child tax credit for families with three or more children; and eliminated the supplemental child tax credit. The American Taxpayer Relief Act extends all these modifications as well.
The current provision that reduces the earnings threshold for the refundable portion of the child tax credit to $3,000 is extended through 2017.
TAX REFORM SOLUTION?
Since passage of the 2010 Tax Relief Act, several proposals for comprehensive tax reform have been unveiled in Washington that may hold promise for a more permanent solution. A presidential panel developed the so-called Simpson-Bowles plan. The GOP has put forward several proposals for comprehensive tax reform, also calling for reduced individual income tax rates, while both parties have struggled to strike a “grand bargain.” Later in 2013, a broader, more permanent solution may be found.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act makes permanent or extends through 2017 enhancements to the earned income credit (EIC) in Bush-era and subsequent legislation. The enhancements to the EIC made by Bush-era and subsequent legislation include (not an exhaustive list) a simplified definition of earned income, reform of the relationship test and modification of the tie-breaking rule. The IRS also has additional authority with respect to mathematical errors.
Expiration of the EIC enhancements would result in the credit phaseout being determined by reference to modified adjusted gross income rather than adjusted gross income. The Bush-era legislation substituted adjusted gross income to reduce the number of calculations necessary to compute EIC.
Adoption Credit/Assistance
The American Taxpayer Relief Act extends permanently Bush-era enhancements to the adoption credit and the income exclusion for employer-paid or reimbursed adoption expenses up to $10,000 (indexed for inflation) both for non-special needs adoptions and special needs adoptions.
The adoption credit phases out for taxpayers above specified inflation-adjusted levels of modified adjusted gross income. The phase-out level for 2012 started at $189,710. For 2013, the beginning point for phasing out the adoption credit is projected to be $191,530. The limit on the adoption credit is projected to be $12,770 for 2013.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act extends permanently Bush-era enhancements to the child and dependent care credit. The current 35 percent credit rate is made permanent along with the $3,000 cap on expenses for one qualifying individual and the $6,000 cap on expenses for two or more qualifying individuals.
Expenses qualifying for the child and dependent care credit must be reduced by the amount of any dependent care benefits provided by the taxpayer’s employer that are excluded from the taxpayer’s gross income. For 2012, total expenses qualifying for the credit are capped at $3,000 in cases of one qualifying individual or at $6,000 in cases of two or more qualifying individuals subject to income thresholds. For 2013, absent extension, these monetary amounts would have decreased to $2,400 in cases of one qualifying individual or $4,800 in cases of two or more qualifying individuals, subject to income thresholds.
The amount of the credit under the American Taxpayer Relief Act continues to be adjusted gross income (AGI) sensitive. The credit is reduced by one percentage point for each $2,000 of AGI, or fraction thereof, above $15,000 through $43,000. Taxpayers with AGI over $43,000 are allowed a credit equal to 20 percent of employment-related expenses. Absent the American Taxpayer Relief Act, the AGI range would have been reduced to $10,000 through $28,000.
The child and dependent care credit is intended to help individuals pay child and dependent care expenses so the taxpayer (if married, a joint return must be filed) can work or look for work. A child, for purposes of this tax benefit, must be under 13 years of age at the close of the tax year. A qualifying dependent who is disabled, however, may be of any age if he or she is a dependent, or spouse, who lives with the taxpayer for more than half the year. EGTRRA and subsequent legislation increased the maximum amount of eligible employment-related expenses for purposes of the dependent care credit and made other enhancements. The 2010 Tax Relief Act had extended these enhancements through 2012.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act extends permanently the Bush-era credit for employer-provided child care facilities and services.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act extends through 2017 the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC). The AOTC is an enhanced, but temporary, version of the permanent HOPE education tax credit.
The AOTC rewards qualified taxpayers with a tax credit of 100 percent of the first $2,000 of qualified tuition and related expenses and 25 percent of the next $2,000, for a total maximum credit of $2,500 per eligible student. Additionally, the AOTC applies to the first four years of a student’s post-secondary education. The HOPE credit, in contrast, is less generous and applies to the first two years of a student’s post-secondary education.
The AOTC was one of the signature pieces in President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the President has often urged Congress to make the AOTC permanent.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act makes permanent or extends a number of enhancements to tax incentives designed to promote education. Many of these enhancements were made in Bush-era legislation, extended by subsequent legislation and are scheduled to expire after 2012. Some enhancements, notably the American Opportunity Tax Credit, had been made in President Obama’s first term.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act extends until December 31, 2013 the above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses. The bill also extends the deduction retroactively for the 2012 tax year.
The above-the-line deduction for higher education tuition and related expenses expired after 2011. The higher education tuition deduction was created by EGTRRA and extended by subsequent laws, most recently by the 2010 Tax Relief Act, but only through the end of 2011.
In 2011, the last year in which the deduction was available under current law, the deduction reached a maximum of $4,000 for taxpayers whose modified AGI did not exceed $65,000 ($130,000 for joint filers), and $2,000 for taxpayers whose modified AGI exceeded $65,000 but did not exceed $80,000 ($160,000 for joint filers)
Taxpayers cannot claim the higher education tuition deduction in the same tax year that they claim the AOTC or the Lifetime Learning credit. A taxpayer also cannot claim the hither education tuition deduction if anyone else claims the AOTC or the Lifetime Learning credit for the student in the same tax year.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act permanently suspends the 60-month rule for the $2,500 above-the-line student loan interest deduction. The American Taxpayer Relief Act also expands the modified adjusted gross income range for phaseout of the deduction permanently and repeals the restriction that makes voluntary payments of interest nondeductible permanently.
Absent the American Taxpayer Relief Act, the 60-month limitation on the number of months during which interest paid on the student loan is deductible was scheduled to be revived after 2012.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act extends permanently Bush-era enhancements to Coverdell education savings accounts (Coverdell ESAs). These enhancements include a $2,000 maximum contribution amount and treatment of elementary and secondary school expenses as well as post-secondary expenses as qualified expenditures.
Absent the American Taxpayer Relief Act, the maximum contribution amount to a Coverdell ESA was scheduled to decrease from $2,000 to $500 after 2012.
Under the American Taxpayer Relief Act, qualified educational expenses continue to include expenses incurred while attending an elementary, secondary or post-secondary school.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act extends permanently the exclusion from income and employment taxes of employer-provided education assistance up to $5,250.
The employer may also deduct up to $5,250 annually for qualified education expenses paid on behalf of an employee.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act makes permanent the exclusion from income for the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program and the Armed Forces Scholarship Program.
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