2019 TAX LAW CHANGES

DID YOU HAVE EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE? Effective February 5, 2019, the IRS announced that INDIVIDUALS WHO RESIDE OR HAVE A BUSINESS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE, KENAI BOROUGH AND MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGH may qualify for tax relief following the November 30, 2018 earthquake. The IRS is giving affected taxpayers until April 30, 2019 to file most tax returns (including individual, corporate, and estate and trust income tax returns; partnership returns, S Corporation returns, and trust returns; estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax returns and employment and annual information returns of tax-exempt organizations; and employment and certain excise tax returns), that have either an original or extended due date occurring on or after November 30, 2018 and before April 30, 2019. Call or e-mail my office for more information.

Affected taxpayers (INDIVIDUALS WHO RESIDE OR HAVE A BUSINESS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE, KENAI BOROUGH AND MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGH) also have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either the year in which the event occurred (2018) or the prior year (2017). For help understanding how this relates to you, call or e-mail my office.

The 2019 PERMANENT FUND DIVIDEND is $1,606. This does mean that children will have to pay taxes on their dividend. Children can be included on the parents' return if they only have non W-2 income (the permanent fund, interest on savings accounts and dividends/capital gains on investment accounts, etc.). If they have W-2 wages, they do have to file their own return. If they have more than $2,100 non-wage income, it may be better for them to file their own return. For help with reporting their income, call or e-mail my office.

Alaska's minimum wage goes up to $9.89 an hour effective January 1, 2019. It will be adjusted every year for inflation with the new rate being effective on January 1 of each year.

The STANDARD MILEAGE RATES FOR 2019 goes into effect on January 1, 2019:
58 cents per mile for business miles driven
20 cents per mile for medical or moving miles driven
14 cents per mile driven for charitable purposes