The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued final regulations that require taxpayers to reduce their charitable contribution deductions by the amount of any state or local tax credits they receive or expect to receive in return. In a notice also issued today, the IRS stated that taxpayers may treat payments they make in exchange for these credits as state or local tax payments. This allows some taxpayers to deduct certain of the payments as taxes.

Millions of taxpayers filed a 2018 tax return recently, making now a prime time for everyone to consider whether their tax situation came out as they expected. If it didn’t, they can use their recently finished 2018 return and the IRS Withholding Calculator to do a Paycheck Checkup and adjust their withholding.

Q. What is an Opportunity Zone?

A. An Opportunity Zone is an economically-distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment.