Tax experts explain how stimulus checks, remote work can impact filing

TAMPA, Fla. - With a month to go from the tax deadline, experts are breaking down what you need to know before you file. 

Tax preparers said there are a few changes that happened in the last year, and a main that affects millions of Americans is unemployment benefits.

"A lot of them didn’t get taxes taken out, so that’s been kind of a sneaky thing for them where they end up owing a little bit of money back," said Steve Ribble, EA from the Guardian Accounting Group in Tampa.

The new COVID-19 stimulus package changed unemployment and allowed for benefits to not be taxable, tax experts said. So if you collected up to $10,200 dollars in benefits for incomes below $150,000, you won’t be taxed.

If you already filed your return, accountants shared what you can expect.

"IRS has recently announced that they don’t need to amend those returns just yet. I think that the IRS is going to try to fix that within their own system and send refund checks in regards to that," said Mike Helton, a shareholder with Rivero, Gordimer & Company, a CPA firm in Tampa. "I would definitely look out for that if they paid taxes on those dollars as to how they’re going to get those back or when."

Experts said they are also paying close attention to remote work. If you switch employment to work for a company based in another state, that changes how you file. But don’t expect to get money from any home office upgrades or expenses.

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"Part of the tax law in 2018, it took away unreimbursed employee expenses," said Ribble. "If you’re displaced from your office which many are, there is no way to deduct the expenses of working out of your home, home office use, increased electricity, internet, things like that."

As for the stimulus checks, those are not taxable. But you may want to keep this in mind.

"If your income went up between 2019 and 2020, you may not want to file and wait. Because if you qualify for the stimulus check below the income threshold but now your income is lifted above that threshold, you might want to hold off on filing until you get the stimulus check," said Helton.

Accountants expect the IRS to come out with more changes. They said IRS should release more guidelines on how to file your taxes if you collected unemployment benefits.

"Patience is one thing I would tell people to have right now, not just with their preparers like us but also with the IRS on when they’re moving things," said Helton.

Tax experts said they are also waiting to see whether the tax deadline gets extended again this year. The deadline to file is April 15.