The 2017 Federal Form 1040, U.S. Personal Income Tax Return is 79 lines long consisting of a slew of income items, deductions, non-refundable credits, additional taxes, and refundable credits. The latest draft 2018 Federal Form 1040 Simplified, U.S. Personal Income Tax Return only has 23 lines. What happened to the other line items? Majority of those items have now been moved to six different tax schedules that can be attached to the Form 1040 Simplified.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was passed in December of 2017, brought large scale changes across the board. It significantly changed the landscape for taxes in general and in the realm of estate planning. It moved the estate exemption from $5,490,000 in 2017 to $11,200,000 per individual, meaning for federal estate tax purposes up to $11,200,000 of assets can pass to a non-spouse upon passing, free of Federal Estate Tax.

There are changes across the board related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law in December of 2017. There are specific items relevant to wineries and vineyards.