By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been accepting business tax returns for approximately two weeks but Jan. 27 marked the first day it would begin processing individual 2024 tax returns. Barry Bowers, a certified public accountant at Spectrum CPA Partners in Great Bend, said some of the biggest changes to tax season this year come at the state level.
"They made a pretty significant adjustment for that so everybody should benefit from those two changes," he said. "Even if you're not on social security, the standard deduction and exemption will help."
In June, Kansas passed legislation that erased income tax on social security benefits. The new laws also boost the standard deduction for single filers from $3,500 to $3,605, and from $8,000 to $8,240 for married taxpayers. The personal exemption increases from $2,250 for each person on a Kansas tax return to $18,320 for married taxpayers and $9,160 for all other taxpayers. The legislation also reduced the number of tax brackets from three to two and lowered the highest tax rate from 5.7 percent to 5.58 percent. Also new for 2024, an additional $2,320 exemption is allowed for each dependent on a Kansas return. Bowers said some similar changes come at the federal level.
"Things like the standard deduction and different deductions or credits that have built-in inflation adjustments, they went up just like they would normally year over year," he said.
The federal standard deduction is $14,600 for single filers and $29,200 for joint filers. Those are increases of $750 and $1,500, respectively, from 2023 returns.
For 2025, investors will be able to defer up to $23,500 into 401(k) plans, up from $23,000 in 2024. Anyone 50 years of age or older can contribute an additional $7,500 in catch-up deferment to grow their retirement plan. Those 60-63 years of age will be able to defer $11,250 in catch-up deferments.