Welcome to our IRS presentation: Tax reform Basics for Individuals and Families. We're glad you're joining us. My name is Veronica Tubman, and I'm a stakeholder liaison at the Internal Revenue Service. And it is my pleasure to be your moderator for today's webinar. Today's Webinar will last 60 minutes. Before we begin the presentation, I'd like to ask that if you are with the media, please send an e-mail message to the address provided on the slide. In your e-mail, please include your contact information, and the news publication you're with. Our media relations or stakeholder liaison staff can assist or answer any questions that you may have. And remember, it's CL.SL.web.conference.team@IRS.gov, right on your screen. In case you experience a technical issue, this slide shows some helpful tips and reminders. We posted a technical help document that you can download from the materials button on the left side of your screen. It provides the minimum system requirements for viewing this broadcast along with some best practices and quick solutions. If you have technical issues, you may contact the Help Desk for assistance. We have two numbers that you can use. 800-785-0681 or 954-861-5783. And that number is not toll free. These numbers are also on the slides for reference. If you completed and passed your systems check and still have problems, then you can try one of the following. One option is to close the screen where you're viewing the Webinar and relaunch it. The second option is to click the gear icon on your viewing screen that you can find in the top right-hand corner of the slide and photo boxes. Now you'll be given two choices. Select Flash instead of HLS from the available media box. If you do not have the gear icon and relaunching your screen doesn't seem to fix your problem, then try using a different browser and go ahead and launch it to view the Webinar. You may also want to close all the windows and apps you have open on your viewing sight. I had to do so before we got started. All righty. Now you may have received a PDF version of the Power Point in a reminder e-mail. If not you can just download it by clicking on the Materials button found on the left side of your screen. Closed captioning is available for today's presentation. If you're having trouble hearing the audio through your computer speakers, please click the CC button on the left side of your screen. This feature will be available throughout the broadcast. If you have a topic specific question for us today, please submit them by clicking on the Ask Question button also on the left side of your screen Enter your question in the text box and don't forget to click Submit. Please. I can't emphasize this enough. But do not enter any sensitive or taxpayer specific information. We ask that you wait for your...

specific topic to be addressed before submitting your question. Oh, oh, and one more thing. We really do appreciate your questions. So hey, don't be shy. Remember to submit them. During the presentation, we'll take a break to share knowledge-based questions with you. At those times, our polling-style feature is going to pop up on the screen with a question and multiple choice answers. Select the response you believe is correct by clicking on the radio button next to your selection and then click Submit. Please note, you know, you may need to turn off your pop-up blocker to receive these questions. If you do not get the pop-up box for responding, please enter your response timely in the Ask Question feature so we can track your presentation. Now as a reminder, if you are experiencing technical problems, we have two numbers you can call for assistance. 800-785-0681 or 954-831 -- I apologize -- 861-5783, and those particular numbers are not toll free. Now to our presentation. Our presenters for today's Webinar are Sherry Saucerman and Philip Yamalis. Both are my colleagues in the stakeholder liaison in the Communications and Liaison division. All righty. So let me turn it over to Sherry who will begin our presentation.

Sherry, take it away SHERRY: OK, Thank you very much Veronica. Hi, everyone I'm Sherry Saucerman, and I want to welcome you all and thank you for attending today's Webinar. Let's go ahead and get started. What we're going to cover during today's webinar are several topics.

We're going to cover the standard deduction and changes to itemized deductions, changes to the child tax credit, changes to the ABLE, the 529 Education, and health saving accounts, changes to retirement accounts and then some other miscellaneous changes. The major tax reform was approved by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on December 22nd of last year 2017 and it affects both individuals and businesses. Today we'll be focusing on the provisions that affect individuals.

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is commonly referred to as TCJA or Tax Reform, and that's how we will be referring to it throughout today's presentation. The IRS has estimated that we're going to need to create or revise about 400 taxpayer forms instructions and publications for next filing season. That's more than double the number of forms we would normally need to create or revise in a typical year. So we're collaborating throughout the IRS with our counsel's office and with the Treasury Department on these 119 provisions that make up Tax Reform. We're issuing guidance -- and legal guidance is issued to interpret the law for taxpayers and for tax professionals.

And this involved releasing both formal published guidance such as regulations and notices, and also soft guidance such as press releases, frequently asked questions about tax topics. As each piece of guidance is released, we post it to a special page on IRS.gov titled Tax Reform.

Veronica shared that page with you a little earlier. Having a central location helps you and your clients find the information that you're looking for quickly and easily. You can go there easily by going to IRS.gov/taxreform. In addition, the IRS is continuing to collaborate with the tax professional community, with the industry and tax software partners as we implement our tax reform, because we want to ensure that our shared customer, the taxpayer, understands how the bill applies to them and they're prepared to file next year. Our top priority in this effort is to ensure that taxpayers and tax professionals can navigate and understand these changes. So let's get to talking about some of these changes. Philip? PHILIP: Thanks, Sherry. I'm Philip Yamalis, also stakeholder liaison. I'm glad to be joining my colleagues here and to be with you today. So Sherry, as you know the TCJA really changed the way the tax is calculated. One of our first major actions earlier this year was to revise the income tax withholding tables to take into account changes made by new legislation. New withholding tables for 2018 reflect the changes in tax rates and tax brackets. It also reflects the increased standard deduction and the suspension of personal exemptions among other things. So withholding table shows payroll service providers and employers just how much tax to withhold from employee paychecks given that each employee's wages, marital status and the number of withholding allowances they claim. The TCJA made changes to the tax law including increasing the standard deduction, removing personal exemptions, increasing the child tax credit, limiting or discontinuing certain deductions and also changeing the tax rates and brackets. So to help people determine their withholding following the tax law changes, we revised the withholder calculator on IRS.gov. We also posted the revised W-4 for use in 2018. Form W-4 is known as the employee withholding allowance certificate. It's an IRS form that employees provide to their employers to determine the amount of federal income tax to withhold from the employee paychecks. Now for taxpayers with more complex situations, publication 505 which is entitled Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax can help them determine the proper amount of withholding. Certain taxpayers including those who don't have enough income tax withheld by their employer might have to pay estimated taxes quarterly.

If the amount of income tax withheld from your salary or pension is not enough or if you receive income such as interest, dividends, alimony, self-employment income, capital gains, you win a prize, you hit the lottery, you get an award. You may have to make estimated or additional tax payments. Publication 505, again tax withholding and estimated tax, can help taxpayers fulfill this. Encourage your clients today to perform a paycheck checkup. Checking their withholding now can certainly help protect them against having too little tax withheld and of course, facing an unexpected tax bill or even a penalty at tax time in 2019. It can also prevent the taxpayer from really having too much tax withheld. Folks with the average refund nearly $2,800 some taxpayers might have to prefer to have less tax withheld up front and really receive more in their paychecks. For 2019, the IRS anticipates making further changing involving withholdings So we will continue to work with the business and payroll communities to encourage workers to file new W-4 forms early next year. Now let's continue and look at the changes to standard deductions and personal exemptions. For 2018, the standard deduction amount is nearly doubled for all filers.

The increased amounts are shown on this slide. For single or married filing separate taxpayers, the amount of the standard deduction is $12,000. That's up from $6,350 in 2017. For married filing joint taxpayers or qualifying widow/widowers, that new standard deduction amount is $24,000, up from $12,700 in 2017. And for head of household the new standard deduction is $18,000 up from $9,350 in 2017. Also for 2018, your clients cannot claim a personal exemption deduction for themselves, their spouse or the dependents. Review the information on IRS.gov/ITIN with your clients to determine whether their spouses and dependents residing outside the United States need to renew their ITINs before your clients file next year. They do not need to renew their ITINs if they would benefit from, if they would have been claimed for this personal exemption benefit and no other benefit. Now due to the increase in the standard deduction, suspension of personal exemptions and the changes to itemized deductions that we'll talk about shortly, your clients may need to check their withholding and consider filing this new form W-4 as we mentioned earlier. So Veronica, let me turn it over to you, because I think this is a great time for a first polling question. VERONICA: Okay cool. Sounds good. Thank you, Philip. Our first polling question is: Why should taxpayers do a paycheck checkup? Here are your choices. Is the correct response A. Protect against having too little tax withheld. Or B. Avoid too much withholding and receive more in their paychecks. C. Personal and dependent exemptions are suspended Or D. All of the above. So let's take a minute and click the radio button you believe most closely answers this question. Okay. The question again is: Why should taxpayers do a paycheck checkup? Okay. We're going to stop the polling now. And we'll share the correct answer with you on the next slide. And the correct response is D. All of the above. So let's see how you did. I want to take a look and see how many people responded correctly to this particular question. And my goodness, that's a great thing 97 percent answered correctly. Sherry, I understand you're going to talk about itemized deductions next. SHERRY: OK, thank you, Veronica. That's great they're all paying close attention. Alright, so let's talk about some of the changes to itemized deductions. There've been several changes made to the itemized deductions that you are used to claiming on your schedule A. First of all, itemized deductions are no longer limited if your adjust gross income is over a certain amount. Also for 2018, taxpayers can deduct the part of their medical and dental expenses that's more than 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. Now before the law changed, the limit was 10 percent of AGI for most taxpayers and it will be 10 percent again for all taxpayers in 2019. But for 2018, it is still 7.5 percent. With regard to State and local taxes, we often see this referred to as SALT taxes.

Okay So now taxpayers with regard to the SALT taxes, taxpayers are now limited to combined totals of $10,000, $5,000 if you are filing married filing separately. This combined total includes your State and Local income taxes, real estate taxes and personal property taxes. Now if you choose to deduct sales taxes instead of the income taxes, then the limits apply with regard to that as well. Any State and Local taxes that the taxpayer pay above that limitation cannot be deducted. On the plus side though, the limit on charitable contributions of cash has increased from 50 percent to 60 percent of adjusted gross income. Continuing with the changes to itemized deductions... the TCJA has suspended the deductions for interest paid on home equity loans. The home equity line of credit also referred to as the HELOC, also referred to as a second mortgage. And it's suspended unless that mortgage is used to buy, build or substantially improve the taxpayer's home that's securing the loan. Under the new law, for example, interest on a home equity loan used to build an addition to an existing home is typically deductible, while interest on the same loan that's used to pay personal living experiences such as credit card debt is not. And as under prior law, the loan does have to be secured by the taxpayer's main home or second home, which is also known as a qualified residence. And it cannot exceed the cost of the home And then there's a few other requirements that it does need to meet. Now for anyone that's considering taking out a mortgage, the new law has now imposes a lower dollar limit on mortgages qualifying for the home mortgage interest deduction So beginning in 2018, taxpayers may only deduct interest on $750,000 of qualified residence loan. That limit is $375,000 for the married taxpayers filing a separate return. This is down from the prior limit of $1 million or $500,000 for married taxpayers filing a separately return. And those limits apply to the combined total of loans used to buy, build, or substantially improve the taxpayer's main home and second home. The new limit doesn't apply if the taxpayer entered into a binding written contract before December 15 of 2017 with the contract to close on the purchase of a principal residence before January 1st, and then the residence was completed before April 1st of 2018.

There's also special rules that apply to -- that maintain the prior limit if the homeowner refinances the home acquisition indebtedness. OK now wrapping up the changes to the itemized deductions for 2018. Net personal casualty and theft losses are now deductible only to the extent their attributable to a Federally declared disaster. The claims have to include the FEMA code that was assigned to the disaster as well. 2018 instructions for form 4684, Casualty and Theft Losses, will have more information about the 2018 disasters. When the final version is available later this year. You can also see IRS publication 976, disaster relief for information from personal casualty losses resulting from federally declared disasters that occured in 2016, certain 2017 disasters which include Hurricane Harvey, Tropical Storm Harvey, Hurrican Irma, Hurricane Maria and the California wildfires. Now TCJA also suspends the deductions for job-related expenses and other miscellaneous itemized deductions that exceed 2 percent of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income. So this is going to include things like tax preparation fees, investment expenses, uniforms, union dues. Unreimburse employee expenses like vehicle expenses, meals, entertainment and travel. That's for the deduction on the Schedule A. Those have all been suspended. Employee business expense deductions are now limited to Armed Forces reservists, employees with impairment related work expenses, qualified performing artists and fee-basis State or local government officials. The 2018 instructions for Form 2106, the employee business expenses, will have more information about this when the final version is available later this year. Okay, Veronica, I think we're -- it's time for our second polling question. VERONICA: Thank you, Sherry. Our second polling question is: What is the dollar limitation on the State and Local Tax or SALT deduction? Is it A. $10,000 - single head of household married filing joint. Or B. $5,000 for married filing separate. Or C. A and B Or D. None of the above. So take a minute, given the information that Sherry just shared with us, and click in the radio button what you believe most closely answers the questions. And I'll just restate that for you again.

What is the dollar limitation on the State and Local Tax SALT deduction? So again, do you think the correct answer is A. $10,000 B. $5,000 C. A and B Or D. None of the above. Now think about what Sherry just shared with us, that good information regarding this particular deduction. And look at those responses again. So what do you think is the best answer? All righty. Let's.. all right. So at this time we will stop the polling question. And we'll share the connect answer on the next slide. And the correct response is C. A and B. So SALT limitation amount is $10,000 for single, head of household, and married filing joint taxpayers And $5,000 for married filing separate taxpayers. Now, let's see how everybody did on this particular polling question, our second one. Okay. Let's see. Looks like we have 73 percent. Hmm, Sherry, could you just give us a little more clarity on this particular question, please? SHERRY: OK thank you, Veronica. I don't know if maybe people just looked at the question a little too quickly and saw the $10,000 and answered A right away. But if you are married filing separately, it would be -- you would only get half of the -- you would be limited to half of the amount. So it is going to be $10,000 if you're filing single, married filing jointly married or filing as a head of household. And if you're married filing separate again that's half of it, that's $5000. So the correct answer would be A and B. VERONICA: Cool. Thanks a lot Sherry for the clarity. We appreciate that.

Alrighty. So. OK Philip, it's your turn to take over and I'm turning it all over to you PHILIP: Well thanks, Veronica. I'm thinking that maybe we need to season that question and add some pepper as well. Just kidding. Anyway for 2018 we see that there's some changes to the child tax credit. The maximum credit increased to $2,000 per qualifying child. Up to $1,400 of the credit can be refundable for each qualifying child as the additional child tax credit. In addition, the income threshold at which the credit begins to phase out is increased to $200,000.

That's $400,000 if married filing jointly. This means that more families with children under 17 will now qualify for the larger credit. Now the new law proposes, has given us a new credit of up to $500. And that's available for each of your qualifying dependents other than children who can be claimed for the child tax credit. The credit is calculated with the child tax credit in the form instructions. The total of both credits is subject to a single phase-out when adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000. Again that's $400,000 if married filing joint. The qualifying dependent must, let me repeat this, the qualifying dependent must be a United States citizen.

U.S. national or U.S. resident alien. This is a non-refundable credit of up to $500 per qualifying person. This means that you may be able to claim the credit if you have children aged 17 or over now, including your college students, children with ITINS or other older relatives in your household. Now for the child tax credit, the taxpayer's child must be a qualifying child under the age of 17, who has a Social Security number, a Social Security number that is valid for an employment and is issued before the due date of the tax return, including extensions of the tax return. If the dependent child has an ITIN but does not a Social Security number, the taxpayer may be able to claim the new credit for other dependents for that child, that $500 credit, up to $500. Now the taxpayer's child must have a Social Security number, as I mentioned earlier, issued before the due date of the 2018 return to be claimed as a qualifying child for the child tax credit or the additional child tax credit. If the dependent child lives with taxpayer in the United States and has an individual taxpayer identification number, an ITIN, but not a Social Security number issued by the due date of return, the taxpayer may be able to claim the new credit for other dependents for that particular child. Let's go on to other tax reform changes for individuals and families. The TCJA suspends the deduction for moving expenses for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 and that goes through January 1, 2026. This suspension though does not apply to members of the Armed forces of the United States on active duty who moved pursuant to a military order related to a permanent change of station. So moving expenses suspended. The next one, AMT, the alternative minimum tax exemption amount has increased to $70,300. $109,400 if married filing jointly or qualifying widower, and $54,700 if married filing separate. The income level at which the AMT exemption begins to phase-out has increased to $500,000 or $1 million if married filing jointly. See the 2018 instructions for form 6251, alternative minimum tax, individuals for more information. Finally we have alimony and separate maintenance payments. They are no longer deductible for any divorce or separation agreement executed after December 31, 2018 or for any divorce or separation agreement executed on or before December 31, 2018 and modified after that date. Furthermore, alimony and separate maintenance payments now will no longer be included in income based on these dates, so taxpayers receiving these payments won't need to report them on their tax return if the payments are based on a divorce or separation agreement executed or modified after December 31, 2018. Next slide shows that the TCJA modifies the exclusion of student loan discharges from gross income. By including within the exclusion certain discharges on account of death or disability. It applies to discharges of indebtedness after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026. We also see that TCJA has now allowing no charitable deduction for any amount for payment to an institution of higher education in exchange for which a taxpayer receives the right to purchase tickets or seating at an athletic event. The next bullet shows that under TCJA, members of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines and the U.S Coast Guard who perform services in the Sinai Peninsula can noow claim combat zone tax benefits retroactive to June of 2015. Now I would advise eligible service members, they should review publication 3: Armed Forces Tax Guide, which of course is obviously available on IRS.gov. So Veronica, let me turn it back over to you, because I think it's time for our next polling question. What do you think? VERONICA: Philip, you are absolutely right. Just as a reminder, you know we need to make sure that we share again with you that you disable your pop-up blocker so you can get the polling question. So just take a few minutes to remember, make sure you disable your pop-up blocker so you can get these really informative polling questions. Okay. Audience, now this particular question is a true or false.

Children with ITINS qualify for the child tax credit, additional child tax credit, and the credit for other dependents. Now the answer A. True or B. False Okay. Just thinking about the information that Philip just shared with us. So take a minute and click in the radio button you believe most closely answers the question. And we'll just say that question again. Children with ITINs qualify for the child tax credit, additional child tax credit, and the credits for other dependents. So is that A. True or B. False? Again, what do you think is the correct answer? So take a look at it. Thinking about what we just heard a little while ago. Is it true or false?

What would best suit that particular question. Just think about what Phil said and just kind of roll it around. Which best suits this particular question? And take a look. We're talking about ITINs qualifying for child tax credit. alrighty. And again, we are about to stop the polling question. And we'll share the correct response on the next slide as we go along. Okay. And the correct answer is B. False. And why is that particular response false? Children with ITINs do not qualify for the child tax credit. Or the additional child tax credit. They only qualify for the credit for other dependents. So now let's take a look and see how we did with that being false.

I see that we've got 73 percent of you responded correctly. So Philip can you just give us a little bit more clarity on this -- the third polling question. Help us out here. PHILIP: Sure. Sure Veronica. So, let me make it clear. If you have children that are going to take -- and you're going to take the child tax credit or additional tax credit for them, they need to have a Social Security number. No ifs or buts about it. Children with ITINs they don't qualify for the child tax credit or additional tax credit, but they qualify for that credit for other dependents that I mentioned for up to $500 bucks. And I can't be more clear than that. Okay?

Veronica? SHERRY: OK. Thanks, Phil. I guess Veronica dropped off for a minute. VERONICA: Thanks, Sherry. SHERRY: Sure. Let's go ahead and move on to talking a little bit about tube health care coverage. Under TCJA, taxpayers do need to continue to report coverage, qualify for an exemption or report an individual shared responsibility payment for tax year 2018. Also for tax year 2018, the IRS is not going to consider a return complete and accurate if the taxpayer doesn't report either full-year coverage, if they claim a coverage exemption or report a shared responsibility payment on the tax return. And for more information on this, I recommend you go to IRS.gov/ACA. Let's move onto some changes to retirement accounts. You can no longer recharacterize a conversion from a traditional IRS SEP or SIMPLE plan to a Roth IRA. So if you convert those to a Roth IRA, they're going to have to stay that way. You can't go back. The new law also prohibits recharacterizing amounts that were rolled over to a Roth IRA from other retirement plans such as a 401K or 403B plan. For more information See the IRA FAQs on recharacterization of IRA contributions on IRS.gov/taxreform. Now if you terminate employment or if your retirement plan is terminated and you have an outstanding plan loan, the plan sponsor could offset your account balance for the outstanding balance of the loan. And if that plan loan is offset, you now have until the due date, including extensions of the return, to roll the loan balance over to an IRA or retirement plan. Information on this is under the retirement plan FAQs regarding loans also on the IRS.gov/taxreform page. Laws enacted in both 2017 and 2018 now make it easier for retirement plan participants to access the retirement plan funds so that they can recover from disaster losses when they're incurred in a Federally declared disaster area for 2017, 2016, 2017 and 2018. So if you received a qualified disaster distribution, it is still taxable, but it isn't subject to the 10 percent additional tax on early distributions. And the distribution can be included ratably over 3 years unless you elect to report the entire amount in the year of distribution. And then you also have the option to re-pay the distribution and then not owe the tax on the distribution. More information on this is in our publication 590-B, The Distribution of IRAs. Now moving on to some other savings accounts. People with disabilities can now put more money into their tax favored achieving a better life experience, also known as the ABLE accounts. And they also may for the first time qualify for a saver's account. These are available for low and moderate income workers. Now with ABLE accounts normally contributions totaling up to the annual gift tax exclusion amount is what you can make to an ABLE account. But starting this year 2018, if the beneficiary of that ABLE account works, the beneficiary can also contribute part or all of what they make to their ABLE account. In addition, some funds may also be rolled into an ABLE account from the designated beneficiary's own 529 plan or from the 529 plan of certain family members of the beneficiary. More information on this on this, please see the ABLE account saving section under the individual Tax Reform page. OK now switching to the 529 plans, another one of the TCJA changes now allows distributions from the 529 plan to be used to pay up to a total of $10,000 of tuition per beneficiary regardless of the number of contributing plans. Up to 10,000 of tuition each year at an elementary or secondary, that's kindergarten through 12th grade, public, or private or religious school of the beneficiary's choosing. The 529 plans, if you're not particularly familiar with those they're also referred to as education saving plans or qualified tuition plans. More information on this is in notice 2018-58 titled. Guidance on recontributions, rollovers and qualified higher education expenses under 529. Okay. Veronica, I think it's time for our fourth and final polling question.

VERONICA: Yes, it is Sherry. Thanks. And I'd be happy for us to get to that fourth and final polling question. Okay, audience, got another true and false question and it's a long one so make sure you listen carefully. Taxpayers who use retirement plan funds to recover from disaster losses incurred in a federally declared disaster area cannot repay their distribution to the plan. Now here are your choices. Is this A. True or B. False? So again, take a minute, click in the radio button you believe most closely answers the question. Okay. This is a toughy. Let me restate it for you. Taxpayers who use retirement plan funds to recover from disaster losses incurred in a federally declared disaster areas cannot repay their distribution to the plan. Do you think given the information Sherry just shared with us, the correct answer is A. True or B.

False? Take a couple minutes, look at it, and think about the information that Sherry just shared with us. We've had quite a bit of federally declared disaster areas. So the weather has really been trying us for this year. And that is why we need to make sure that we are really clear on this particular polling question. Taxpayers who use retirement planned funds to recover from disaster losses incurred in federally declared disaster areas cannot repay their distribution to the plan. Okay. So let me take a look at the polling now. And we'll share the correct answer on the next slide. And the correct response is B Taxpayers can in this situation repay their distribution to the plan. And let me take a look and see, you all are right on point.

89 percent of you responded correctly. Way to go. Okay. Looks like we're close to the end.

Philip, I'll turn it over to you now. PHILIP: All right Veronica, thanks, yes we are close to the end. Before we do finish, I want to take a little time to give you an idea of some of the material that you can find on the tax reform page on IRS.gov. For individual taxpayers, by going to IRS.gov/taxreform, taxpayers can find out about withholding, for example they'll find the withholding calculator there, credits, the child tax credit, and additional child tax credit, as well as the credit for other dependents that we talked about. They can type in the keyword �deductions� and they can find out about moving expenses and what we said about depreciation and expensing and alimony. U.S. Armed forces members, can find out about combat zone benefits and the moving expenses attributable for them, as well as savings plans that Sherry talked about. We can find out more about retirement and health savings accounts. If you're a business taxpayer, you can find out more about income, including gains and losses, deductions and depreciation credits, international taxes, accounting method changes, opportunity zones, and much, much more.

This is not all the information that you can find of course on the Tax Reform page, so I really, really encourage you to go to IRS.gov/taxreform. The page is updated on a regular basis. So save it as a favorite on your browser and please, please check it out. I also want to remind you to check the tax reform page on IRS.gov for updates and resources. As you can see on this slide there's quite a lot of tax reform information available on IRS.gov. Taxpayers can find steps to take now to get a jump on next year's taxes at IRS.gov/getready. I would urge you to subscribe to our outreach corner. Our tax reform tax tips, and other E-newsletters, especially for you tax professionals out there. You have to be subscribed for E-news for tax professionals. Veronica, I'll turn it back over to you. That's all I've got. VERONICA: OK, cool. Thanks, Philip. We appreciate it. Hello again, it's me, Veronica Tubman. I'm moderating the Q&A session. Joining us for today's Q&A session is Rich Furlong, Stakeholder Liaison and he will be assisting Sherry and Philip with answering some of your questions. So let's go and take a look at the questions.

Let's see some really good questions here. If a taxpayer received a form 1095-A, will it be required to be reported? And if not reported, will a refund or tax refund be placed on hold? And Rich, we're going to ask you to help us out with that one. Rich: Sure Veronica. And good day, everybody. The form 1095-A, as many of you know, is the form that is issued by the health insurance marketplace to individuals who have received health coverage for themselves and possibly also family members. And the majority of those individuals are getting an advance premium tax credit. The form 1095-A is very important, and it is required to successfully and completely complete the form 8962, the premium tax credit form. And in the past several years, Veronica, we have issued letters during the processing of the current year tax return, if the form 8962 is not attached when the marketplace informs IRS that a 1095-A has issued to the taxpayer or to any member of that family listed on the form 1095-A. So the 1095-A will continue to be a crucial form and to use that to prepare the form 8962 in order to have a complete and accurate tax return, Veronica. VERONICA: OK. Thanks a lot, Rich. All righty, let's see.

Philip this is more in line with what you helped us out with. Can you address the extra standard deduction for over age 65 and/or blind. PHILIP: Veronica, that's a great question. I don't think I mentioned what the additional standard deduction amounts for age 65 and/or blind. So if you're age 65 or older, as in the past you can increase your standard deduction by $1,600 if you file single or head of household. But if you're married filing jointly then you or your spouse of 65 or older, you can increase that standard deduction amount I mentioned by $1,300. If both you and your spouse are 65 or older, then you can increase your standard deduction by $2,600. This same thing goes if you're legally blind. You can increase your standard deduction by $1,600 if filing single head of household. And if you are married filing jointly and you or your spouse is blind you can increase your standard deduction by the $1,300. And again, you can increase your standard deduction by $2600 if both you and your spouse are blind and these are for tax year 2018. VERONICA: Thanks, Philip. This one's for Sherry. All righty. How long do you have to repay the distribution if you take the distribution from your retirement plan for disaster relief? SHERRY: Okay. So the change is they now have three years to repay it. And that would be spread out equally over those three years. And/or they can... Rich: Veronica. I think we may have lost Sherry. VERONICA: OK. Well, that's good. We're just ging to keep on coming along and Sherry you can just go ahead and rejoin us. Alright Rich. This one's for you, thank you. When can we have the final new 1040 form? Rich: That is certainly a question I and others in Stakeholder Liaison have heard before. As Philip mentioned at the outset, forgive me, I think it was Sherry. We're facing the revision and/or creation of up to over 400 new forms, publications and instructions. And we have been regularly putting out early drafts of many of those forms. Indeed if you go to IRS.gov/draftforms -- one word -- you can see all the early drafts that we put out for comment and review. Now these are not forms to be used for filing and they note that in the water mark on these forms. I watch almost daily Veronica to see when the new forms that taxpayers and their advisors and preparers will be able to use for filing. I haven't seen many yet. But if you go to IRS.gov under Forms you will see the 2018 forms such as they are that are ready for filing. So I would say to the audience today, keep checking IRS.gov on a regular basis. Look under Forms and Publications for final release versions. But because of so many significant changes due to TCJA, particularly in the individual area, these require significant changes to these forms. So most of them will be coming out later in the fall, but certainly well before the beginning of tax season, Veronica. VERONICA: Okay, thanks a lot, Rich. Do you think that you could respond to that other end of Sherry's question before she fell off for us? We appreciate it. Rich: Yeah, the question had to do with I think repayment over several years of the early distribution from the retirement plan I want to look -- here again this ties in with the instructions for that form, and it would probably be in the 1040 instructions for 2018. I've only glanced at the early draft of those instructions again at IRS.gov/draftforms. The final instructions are not out yet. But I would point the questioner to those final instructions when they come out because they will provide information on reporting the -- I guess the repayment of that distribution ratably over those three years. So look to the instructions for that answer, Veronica. VERONICA: Thanks a lot, Rich, so talking about those distribution repayments. Okay Philip this one's for you. Can you clarify the moving expense deduction? Oh,you're kidding me? PHILIP: I'm here, I'm here. So you want me to clarify the moving expense deduction? VERONICA: Yes. PHILIP: Give me one second here. Let me go to my notes and I can elaborate. VERONICA: Sure. Sure. There we go. PHILIP: And I see Sherry's just joined us. SHERRY: Yes, I am back. PHILIP: So in terms of the moving expense it's pretty simple and it's pretty clear. TCJA suspends the deduction for moving expenses for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017. And this will go through January 1, 2026. The suspension is there. No more deduction for moving expenses. Now this suspension does not apply to members of the Armed forces as I mentioned before who are on active duty, or who might move pursuant to a military order related to a permanent change in their station, duty station. So no more moving expenses for itemized deductions beginning after December 31, 2017. VERONICA: Okay. Thanks so much, Rich, Sherry and Philip. We appreciate you. All righty, so that's all the time we have for questions. But you know, I want to thank our presenters, Sherry, Philip and Rich for answering our questions. And your questions too, cuz some of them helped me as well. We appreciate them sharing their knowledge with us. So before we close out the Q&A session, what are the most important points that you want to give our attendees to remember for today's Webinar? Let's start with Philip. PHILIP: Thanks Veronica, and we appreciate you too. The most important points that I'd like you to take home from this Webinar that -- and every taxpayer, I know it's late in the year, but please encourage your clients to do that paycheck checkup. There's so many changes, you know? The standard deduction amounts have increased. The deduction for personal dependent exemptions are suspended, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changes affect almost everyone who has previously itemized. So please, please encourage that paycheck checkup. Also, can't make it clear enough that children must have a Social Security number to be claimed as a qualifying child for the child tax credit or the additional child tax credit. Okay?

VERONICA: Thanks, Phil. SHERRY: Thanks Phil. So my most important points are, I was talking about the IRA, and I want you to remember you can no longer recharacterize a conversion from a traditional IRA SEP or SIMPLE to a Roth IRA. If you've converted those to a Roth IRA, you can't recharacterize it back. Also, retirement plan participants can now easily access the retirement plan funds to recover from disaster losses incurred in federally declared disaster areas that were declared in 2016, 2017, and 2018. And the repayment options have been eased, as well. Eligible individuals with disabilities can now put more money into their ABLE accounts.

And finally, the distributions from 529 plans, the education plans, can now be used to pay up to a total of $10,000 of tuition at an elementary or secondary school, and that amount is per beneficiary. Okay, Veronica, back to you. You there? VERONICA: Yes, I'm here. Thanks again, Sherry and Philip. What an excellent presentation, you guys. For those that attended today for three 50 minutes after the official start time of the Webinar, you will receive a certificate of completion that you can use for your credentialing organization for possible CE credit. If you're eligible for continuing education from the IRS and registered with your valid PTIN your credit will be posted to your PTIN account. And if you're eligible for continuing education from the California tax education counsel, your credits will be posted to your CTEC account as well.

If you qualify and have not received your certificate and/or credit by November 1st, please e-mail us at: CL.SL.web.conference.team@IRS.gov. The e-mail address is on the slide as well. If you know someone that would benefit from this information shared today, then let them know that they will be able to view the Webinar on IRSVideos.gov in approximately 4 weeks. And as a reminder, we're not able to grant CEs for Webinars viewed on IRSVideos.gov. If you want to know who your local stakeholder liaison is, then you can send an e-mail using the address shown on this slide and we'll send you the information that you need, by your particular State. Also go on IRS.gov and put in keyword search "stakeholder liaison." You know, as a part of the Service's effort to provide you with timely topics and interesting speakers, we'd appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to complete a short evaluation before you exit. If you have any requests for future Webinar topics or pertinent information you'd like to see in an IRS fact sheet, tax tips or frequently asked questions on IRS.gov, please include your suggestions in the comments section of the survey or in the Ask Question feature on your viewing screen. Click the survey button on the left side of your screen to begin. If it doesn't come up, don't forget, check to make sure that your pop-up blockers have been disabled. We hope you'll be joining us in the future for Webinars that we will be offering throughout the entire year. We have several Webinars planned for the upcoming weeks. We hope you'll be able to attend one of them, and don't forget to share this valuable information. To register for these and other upcoming IRS Webinars, please visit IRS.gov using keyword "Webinars" and select the Webinars for tax practitioners or Webinars for small businesses. And we hope you look to your local stakeholder liaison for information to learn about policies, practices and procedures the IRS uses to ensure compliance with the tax laws. We also elevate these issues that affect tax administration by using the issue management resolution system. You know it has really been a pleasure to be with you, all of you today. And on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service I would like to thank you for attending today's Webinar. You know, it's really important for the IRS to maintain strong partnerships with tax professional community, industry associations and other federal, state, and local government organizations. You make our job a lot easier by sharing the information that allows for proper tax reporting. Thanks again for your time and your attendance. Much success in your business or practice. Feel free to exit the Webinar at this time. Take care.