HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — It’s about that time of year that many Americans dread.
The first day of tax season is Monday, Jan. 26.
According to Intuit Turbo Tax, nearly half of Americans dislike or hate filing their taxes.
After the passage of the Big Beautiful Act, there are many changes this filing season.
It’s that time of year to start gathering your tax documents to get ready to file.
“Just don’t overlook the simple stuff. I know folks have not a lot of patience for this process, and you kind of want to be done with it as fast as you can, and it’s worth slowing down just a little bit. Make sure you’ve got everything in place,” said Luke Richardson, associate professor of instruction at the University of South Florida.
That’s because Richardson said there are more changes than usual this year. The Big Beautiful Act has brought new provisions, including no tax on tips.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean that tips are not taxable. They remain taxable. What you now have is an opportunity to take a deduction for your tip income that offsets the tip income up to a certain amount,” Richardson said.
The IRS said you can deduct qualified tips with a maximum deduction of $25,000.
As for no tax on overtime deduction — if you make time-and-a-half for overtime, then just the half-portion can actually be deducted.
The max deduction for that is $12,500 for single filers.
There’s also a new senior deduction and a new no tax on car loan interest. These provisions have eligibility requirements and certain deduction maximums.
“Most of the tax software you might be using is going to have all those changes in there,” he said.
There are free options available to help you file your taxes. There’s the IRS free file, which provides tax software for taxpayers who made $89,000 or less. There’s also the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), which is offering free filing help from Tampa Bay experts.
“So, plenty of ways to not pay to file your taxes and those programs are vastly underutilized,” Richardson said.
Whichever option you choose, federal taxes are due by April 15, 2025.
According to data from the IRS, over 60% of people who filed taxes last year did get a refund.
For filers hoping to get that money back quickly, experts said e-filing your return is the best option.
Tyler O’Neill
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