There are a lot of questions revolving around tax changes in the “Big Beautiful Bill” that was passed last year, and there’s a chance it could mean a bigger refund for many taxpayers this year. Lisa Greene-Lewis, CPA and TurboTax expert, is here to help you navigate it all. Watch the video above or read the full transcript below.
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Video transcript:
TRACY BYRNES: All right. So tax season is upon us again. Only this year there’s a twist. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed. And now you have to figure out how to integrate it into your tax return. It changes things for families, for retirees’ wealth transfer. There’s so many questions, which is why Lisa Greene-Lewis is here with us, CPA and TurboTax expert, back again to help us work through all this.
Lisa, great to see you. What do we need to know about this thing? It’s a behemoth.
LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Yes. Well, TurboTax conducted a study, and we found that two out of five Americans didn’t know too much about the tax bill. And also about 33% of them thought that they would be worse off under the tax bill. But what people do need to know is filers are expected to see an increase of about $1,000 in their refund, and then they need to know about the different provisions.
So for instance, the child tax credit, if you’re a parent, that increased to $2,200 from $2,000 and there’s some new deductions. So if you are a rideshare driver or a waitress, somebody that earns qualified tips, you can deduct up to $25,000 in tips. If you are in a service profession that earns overtime, like a firefighter or a police officer, you can deduct up to $12,500 in overtime.
And then there’s a new deduction for seniors that are 65 and over and that’s $6,000. There’s also a deduction if you purchase a car for personal use and you purchase that—and it was built in the United States. That’s up to $10,000.
TRACY BYRNES: All right. Let’s talk about our seniors. They deserve, they deserve a little help here and there. And they get a little bit more with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Let’s talk about that a little bit.
LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Yes. So if you are 65 and over you get an additional $6,000 deduction. And that’s in addition to the standard deduction. So the standard deduction for tax year 2025 is $15,750. If you’re single, $31,500 married filing jointly. So you’ll get that $6,000 on top of that. And then you also get an additional deduction for being 65 and over or if you’re blind.
So if you’re single, that additional amount is $2,000 on top of the standard deduction and the new deduction. Or if you’re married, filing jointly the additional amount is $1,600, if you’re 65 and over or blind.
TRACY BYRNES: Yeah, that’s good stuff. And people need to know that. Let’s also talk about our small businesses or self-employed folks. There’s a ton of people in this gig economy these days. What’s in it for them as far as new deductions and credits in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act?
LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Yes. So, one key provision was expanded and extended permanently. And that’s the Section 179 deduction. So you’re able to deduct your business equipment in full for the first year. You put it in place instead of spreading it out over the amount of years of its useful life. And the new tax bill increased that amount up to $2.5 million.
And then it also permanently extended the qualified business income deduction. And so that is 20% of your qualified business income. And so you’ll get a deduction for that amount. And then it also changed the rules for 1099-K thresholds. I know over the years it’s been back and forth. So for tax year 2024, third-party providers that paid you and processed your transactions, they were issuing the 1099-K at over $600.
Now under the new tax bill that went back to over 200 transactions and over $20,000. So that’s something to keep in mind. But even if you don’t receive one of those forms, you’re required to still report that income. And also, you know, don’t forget your expenses related to that income.
TRACY BYRNES: Right, to offset and that, that new threat threshold just for the 2025 tax year, right? Yes. All this stuff sounds fabulous, but people need to know that there are limitations to all these things. It’s not an across the board, right? You get 25 grand for tips back. It’s—you still have to file and report all this stuff.
LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Correct. Right. And there are limitations. All of these have thresholds, for your income in order for you to qualify and then you need a Social Security number for all of these, like, for instance, Child Tax Credit. You used to be able to have an ITIN, but now you need a Social Security number.
TRACY BYRNES: That’s interesting. And that’s really important because those are very hard to find. Come tax time you have to go hunt them down sometimes. The auto loan I think is really cool for a lot of people and will help a lot of people. To your point earlier, all these things are going to help people and they’re expecting more taxpayers to see more money in their pockets, right? Refunds are expected to be bigger this year.
LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Right. Filers are expected to see a $1,000 increase in their refund up to $1,000. Of course, it depends on your situation.
TRACY BYRNES: All right. So, Lisa, this stuff is really confusing. And throw in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. There’s a lot going on. What do—what should people do if they’re just overwhelmed?
LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Yeah. If people don’t want to do it themselves they can hand their taxes over to our TurboTax full service experts, and they can fully do their taxes for them, and they can connect with a TurboTax full service expert, either virtually, or they can come into our new stores that opened up. And you can also get the same expert the next year once you use our full service.
TRACY BYRNES: Yeah, and full disclosure, I have to, I have to admit, I have connected with your virtual team and they’ve been really, really helpful. So Lisa Greene-Lewis, thank you for sharing all that. This stuff is complicated, we have to take our time, we appreciate your insight.
LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Thank you for having me.
