America's most trusted tax advice, backed by detailed citations of authoritative tax references
J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax Professional Edition 2020 is the tax preparer's guide to smart tax filing and planning. The Professional Edition not only includes the trusted guidance, clear advice, and money-saving tips featured in Your Income Tax, but also provides citations of tax authorities to help tax professionals easily locate the law, IRS rulings and court decisions that support the text. Fully up to date with the newest changes for 2019 tax returns, expert guidance from J.K. Lasser helps you maximize deductions and shelter income while providing hundreds of examples of how tax laws apply to individual situations. While evolving tax law can get very complex very quickly, this invaluable guide is designed to help you find the answers you need without wading through volumes of the Internal Revenue Code or IRS materials. Special icons call out new laws, IRS rulings, court decisions, filing pointers and planning strategies, allowing you to locate important information without breaking your workflow.
Keeping up with changes to tax law is itself a full-time job—if it's not your full-time job, let the experts at J.K. Lasser do the legwork for you! Read from beginning to end or dip in and out as needed—this exceptional resource will help you:
- Get expert answers to tough tax situations quickly
- Navigate new laws, court decisions, IRS rulings, and more
- Locate authoritative sources easily with citations of references from the Code, the courts and the IRS.
- Avoid common pitfalls and adopt smart planning strategies for next year
Accessible, down-to-earth tax advice is always appreciated, but professional tax preparers need more—such as authoritative sources to back their advice and clarify tricky situations that their clients may encounter. J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax Professional Edition 2020 provides a quick one-stop resource for every tax pro, merging detailed citations with America's most trusted tax advice for over 65 years.
J.K. Lasser Institute has been the premier publisher of consumer tax guides since 1939, when Jacob Kay Lasser first published Your Income Tax. Since then, the guide has been published continuously for over sixty years and read by over 39,000,000 people. The J.K. Lasser Institute also publishes several personal finance books such as Small Business Taxes and 1001 Deductions and Tax Breaks. J.K. Lasser Institute spokespeople are regularly sought after as media tax experts. They regularly appear on such broadcast programs as CNBC, CNN, and Bloomberg TV. They are also often featured in numerous periodicals, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Self Magazine, The New York Times, Newsweek and Reader's Digest.
What’s New for 2019 xxvii
Tax News for 2019 xxvii
Key Tax Numbers for 2019 xxx
Tax-Saving Opportunities for 2019 xxxiii
Pending Legislation That Could Affect 2019 Returns xxxiv
Filing Basics 1
1. Filing Status 9
Reporting Your Income 35
2. Wages, Salary, and Other Compensation 37
3. Fringe Benefits 56
4. Dividend and Interest Income 81
5. Reporting Property Sales 109
6. Tax-Free Exchanges of Property 158
7. Retirement and Annuity Income 172
8. IRAs 212
9. Income From Real Estate Rentals and Royalties 261
10. Loss Restrictions: Passive Activities and At-Risk Limits 281
11. Other Income 311
Claiming Deductions 335
12. Deductions Allowed in Figuring Adjusted Gross Income 337
13. Claiming the Standard Deduction or Itemized Deductions 343
14. Charitable Contribution Deductions 350
15. Itemized Deduction for Interest Expenses 377
16. Deductions for Taxes 395
17. Medical and Dental Expense Deductions 404
18. Casualty and Theft Losses and Involuntary Conversions 423
19. Other Itemized Deductions 446
20. Travel and Meal Expense Deductions 449
Personal Tax Computations 469
21. Dependents 471
22. Figuring Your Regular Income Tax Liability 484
23. Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) 489
24. Computing the “Kiddie Tax” on Your Child’s Unearned Income 497
25. Personal Tax Credits Reduce Your Tax Liability 503
26. Tax Withholdings 527
27. Estimated Tax Payments 534
28. Additional Medicare Tax and Net Investment Income Tax 540
Tax Planning 547
29. Tax Savings for Residence Sales 549
30. Tax Rules for Investors in Securities 566
31. Tax Savings for Investors in Real Estate 583
32. Tax Rules for Investors in Mutual Funds 597
33. Educational Tax Benefits 606
34. Special Tax Rules for Senior Citizens and the Disabled 625
35. Members of the Armed Forces 639
36. How to Treat Foreign Earned Income 647
37. Planning Alimony and Marital Settlements 658
38. Other Taxes 665
39. Gift and Estate Tax Planning Basics 671
Business Tax Planning 679
40. Income or Loss from Your Business or Profession 681
41. Retirement and Medical Plans for Self-Employed 713
42. Claiming Depreciation Deductions 725
43. Deducting Car and Truck Expenses 742
44. Sales of Business Property 757
45. Figuring Self-Employment Tax 764
Filing Your Return and What Happens After You File 773
46. Filing Your Return 775
47. Filing Refund Claims, and Amended Returns 784
48. If the IRS Examines Your Return 788
2019 Tax Forms 803
Part 9 839
Part 10 845
Part 11 963
Glossary 1001
Index 1007
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