3 ways your tax prep will change

ATLANTA - It's time to start thinking about filing your taxes. April 15 will be here before you know it, so let's get up-to-speed on what you should remember about 2019 changes.

We darted over to Emory's Goizueta Business School and talked with associate professor in accounting Usha Rackliffee. She hits on these three topics: No more individual mandate, a higher threshold in medical expense deductions, but let's start here with changes in alimony deductions.

"For people who got divorced in 2019 and after, the alimony paid by one spouse is no longer deductible for that one spouse, nor is it to be included in the taxes of the spouse who's actually receiving it. So, it's like a wash. It's not included and it's not excluded," she told us. Unless, of course, your divorce agreement was prior to 2019. Those are grandfathered in. 

Now let's move on to medical expense deductions. In 2019 you had to spend more than you did previously in order to get the deduction. The threshold has changed. It used to be 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income, when filing in April that threshold will be 10 percent of your adjusted gross income.

The third change to remember when filing your 2019 taxes is that there is no more individual mandate for the Affordable Healthcare Act. In a nutshell that meant, according to Usha Rackliffe, "If you could afford healthcare but didn't buy it, you had to pay this individual mandate. So beginning in 2019 that went away."

This will get you started as you prepare to file your taxes. We will talk about changes in Georgia tax law and what's new for 2020 in the future.