We look forward to welcoming you in the new tax season and I want to highlight what is new for the 2024 tax filing season. To better meet your needs, we offer both in-person and virtual appointments. We encourage drop-offs and offer curbside service. You can have your tax returns prepared without leaving your home by using our secure document upload and our e-Signature services for reviewing and signing your tax returns. Sending tax documents via e-mail, even if the attachments are password protected, still leaves your private information vulnerable so we encourage you to use our secure upload service.
Items needed for the preparation of your 2024 tax return
- Copy of last year’s tax return
- Identification information for each person listed on the return, such as Social Security numbers and dates of births.
- At any time during 2024, did you: receive, sell, exchange, gift, or otherwise dispose of a digital asset or a financial interest in a digital asset, such as virtual currency?
- W-2s, 1099s, Schedule K-1s, and other tax documents issued to you
- Itemized Deductions. If you think you may be able to benefit from itemizing deductions, provide the following info:
- Medical and dental expenses including health insurance premiums not paid through your employer
- Property taxes
- Vehicle registrations
- Mortgage Interest (Form 1098 Home Mortgage Interest Statement)
- Charitable contributions (cash and non-cash)
- IRA Distributions. Please note that some 1099-Rs for retirement distributions do not always indicate that the distribution was a QCD (Qualified Charitable Distribution) or was part of a Roth conversion. If you had any of the above, please indicate amounts and the financial institution.
New for 2024
- Currently, the Child Tax Credit remains at the pre-2021 levels of $2,000 per child under the age of 17 as of 31 December 2024. Children age 18 or older can qualify you for the Credit for Other Dependents of $500.
- For 2024 the Child and Dependent Care Credit remains at 20% to 35% of up to $3,000 in eligible expenses for a child under age 13 or a disabled person, and up to $6,000 for more than one qualifying child or dependent.
- IRS Inflationary Adjustments for 2024
- Standard Deduction increased for all filing statuses: Single & Married Filing Separate is $14,600, Head of Household is $21,900, and Married Filing Joint is $29,200.
- For 2024 the annual exclusion for gifts is $18,000.
- IRA Contributions: the maximum contributions for Traditional or Roth IRAs for the 2024 tax year have increased to $7,000 if you’re under age 50, and $8,000 if you’re age 50 or older.
- Below are the business and medical/moving mileage rates (cents per mile) for 2024 and 2025
| Purpose | 2024 | 2025 |
| Business | 67 | 70 |
| Medical or Military Moving | 21 | 21 |
| Charitable | 14 | 14 |
Iowa tax updates
- The top individual income tax rate for 2024 is 5.7 percent, down from the rate of 6.0 for tax year 2023. Please note these rates do not include the School District Surtax / EMS Surtax.
- In 2025, Iowa law provides for a flat tax rate of 3.8 percent for all levels of taxable individual income.1
- Iowa 529 Plan deductions. Iowa taxpayers can deduct up to $5,500 for tax year 2024 of their contributions to a 529 plan for each beneficiary. A married couple can contribute to separate accounts for each of their children.
- For tax year 2024, Iowa taxpayers can still make contributions until April 30, 2025 (Iowa’s tax filing deadline) and have those contributions deducted from their 2024 adjusted gross income. If taking this approach, be careful that these contributions are being made for tax year 2024 and not 2025.
- Per House File 2317, signed into law in March 2022, the Retirement Income Exemption is in effect as of January 1, 2023. The law “modified Iowa Code § 422.5(3)(a) to exempt from Iowa taxation all ‘retirement income’ for those who are disabled or 55 years of age or older and for surviving spouses”.
The tax deadline for the 2024 tax year is Tuesday, 15 April 2025. We can file an extension for you, but note that it only applies to filing a return and is not an extension of time to pay taxes owed. When we file your extension, we can include an estimated tax payment to cover taxes owed so you can avoid penalties and interest.
Feel free to reach out to us with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
M. Jon Brown, MBA, EA
