Financial Briefs

You can't have your cake and eat it, too, but this tax planning strategy lets you have a tax break and repeat it, too.

The TCJA almost doubled the standard deduction to $12,000 for singles and $24,000 for couples filing jointly in 2018. Trouble is, if you take the standard deduction, you can't itemize other deductions. You no longer can lower your taxable income by itemizing deductions such as charitable donations, medical expenses, mortgage interest, and other miscellaneous expenses.

By bunching, you do both: This year, you take the enlarged standard deduction. For 2019, you don't. Instead you bunch your deductions and itemize them when you file your taxes for 2019. If your itemized deductions aren't higher than the standard deduction, you take the standard deduction again in 2019 and then itemize in 2020 tax year.