Kiddie Tax

The rules have changed to allow more flexibility for paying taxes on unearned income such as dividends, interest, and capital gains over $2,200 for children under age 24. You now can elect to pay taxes under the old method based on the parent's tax rate instead of the trust rate. The trust rate reaches the max rate of 37% on income over $12,750. You can also amend 2018 to make the election to be taxed on the parent rate for that year.

To Itemize or take the Standard Deduction

The standard deduction is now $24,400 for joint returns and $12,200 for single returns. You also get another $1,300 if you are at least age 65 on joint returns and $1,650 for single returns. Many taxpayers who used to itemize no longer need to track the medical expenses, taxes paid, donations, and mortgage interest since they add up to less than the standard deduction. Medical expenses are also subject to a threshold of 7.5% of adjusted gross income and taxes are maxed out at $10,000. However if you are filing a joint GA return and your itemized deductions exceed $20,000, you should itemize since the combined federal and state taxes will be less than if you take the standard deduction since GA has such a low standard deduction. You have to do the same in GA as you do on the federal return regarding itemization or taking the standard deduction. The GA standard deduction is $4,600 for single and $6,000 for joint plus another $1,300 for age 65 and older.