Skip to footer

Tax filing in 2014: 7 new rules and 9 wacky deductions

Tax season is here, so it's time to ensure you're ready to get the most out of your filing. We're here to help you navigate  the new rules for 2014 and alert you to some strange, wacky, but wonderful deductions you probably had no idea existed. When January 31 (the first day to file taxes this year) rolls around, you'll be ready – with education and pet moving deductions in tow.

1. Higher income means higher taxes

Ben Curtis/AP
Former US President George W. Bush waves during the memorial service. His tax policies were permanently extended at the start of 2013.

The 2014 tax refund season starts at the end of January, but just because you’ll be filing your 2013 refund doesn’t mean your tax process will be the same as last year. This year has brought a variety of changes, especially if you have a higher income and/or are filing medical expenses.

But beyond changes in taxes specific to this year, you’ll want to make sure you know about any special deductions to get the most out of your refund. The following list is a  wrap-up of changes to watch out for in this year’s tax filing season, plus a couple of weird and wacky deductions that could save you an extra chunk of change.

First up, if you have a higher income, this year is likely going to mean higher taxes. George W. Bush-era tax cuts were permanently extended at the start of 2013, which means most people won’t see a huge change. However, if your income is over $400,000 for single filers, $450,000 for married couples, or $425,000 for heads of household, you’ll have a top marginal tax rate of 39.6 percent. Higher-income taxpayers may also see deductions and personal exemptions cut, plus see an increase in capital gains taxes – taxes on income made through investments such as stocks or real estate. 

1 of 16
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.