Originally Posted by
B727DRVR
So is there any reason to use an aviation tax attorney anymore?
Probably not. The new law pretty much put companies like Pro-Diem out of business with the stroke of a pen. Un-reimbursed employee expenses (that exceed 2% of gross income) are no longer a deduction as they have been in the past. So, things like uniform expenses, professional subscriptions, union dues, tax prep fees, etc. that an aviation CPA or tax expert used to be able to find for you to deduct are gone.
If you're married, filing jointly, the standard deduction is now $24,000 ($12,000 for a single filer). The only reason I exceeded that limit on my 2018 taxes was due to $20K in monetary charitable donations. If I hadn't done that, I would have been well under $24K and not even itemized.
In a way, it's a huge improvement. You can't claim any of the old deductions, but now you get a higher standard deduction that probably exceeds any of the old itemized totals one used to come up with. Simpler, easier return.