Lawmakers want to bring back these 3 tax breaks

Some households could be in for a difficult tax season if Congress doesn’t renew the tax breaks.

“You can’t claim the extenders if they aren’t passed,” said Kathy Pickering, executive director of The Tax Institute at H&R Block. Sure enough, the 2018 individual income tax return — Form 1040 — doesn’t have any line items for the extenders.

If Congress were to pass a measure allowing the breaks for 2018, the IRS would have to revise the 1040 and tax prep software providers will have to update their programs to reflect it, said Nicole Kaeding, director of federal projects at the Tax Foundation.

What do you do if you’re trying to rush your return out the door and you need certainty?

“You could either do nothing and, if the law changes, file an amended return,” said Tim Steffen, CPA and director of advanced planning at Robert W. Baird & Co. “Or you can wait and see if something changes.”

Here are three big extenders that are still uncertain for 2018, plus one newly proposed provision for 2019. And despite the potential good news, a number of these breaks are only available to those who itemize on their returns. That may be a high hurdle for many taxpayers, as the new tax law raised the standard deduction to $24,000 for those filing jointly.