It feels as though the last Tax Day just came and went, so it is perfectly natural to want to forget about taxes and give your mind a break for the rest of the year. However, taxes never really take a break. There’s always an important bit of news; or a new law; or a change to your financial situation; and any, or all, of these things could dramatically impact how your tax situation will play out the following year.
Consider the Affordable Care Act as an example of this. With millions of people gaining access to healthcare through this law, there are many things that need to be taken into account for tax season. There could be tax penalties applied for not getting healthcare. Businesses also have an obligation to be compliant with all of the rules that relate to the ACA and the tax code.
Another factor to consider is that lawmakers will have to make some decisions over the coming months about extending certain deductions, provisions and credits for the 2015 tax year. Whether one, some, all, or none of these provisions get renewed or not will have a big impact on your taxes.
There is also a potential new law (it still needs to be passed) that would require employers to pay salaried employees who earn less than $50,440 annually to be paid overtime for any work done after 40 hours in a week. This could dramatically affect your tax standing, so it behooves you to be prepared if this rule applies to you.
Source: Accounting Today, “Top Tax Issues for 2016,” Accessed Aug. 31, 2015