The turn of the calendar means it will soon be time to prepare your income taxes; and one expert says sweeping changes in the tax code mean virtually every taxpayer will be impacted by a change in one way or another.

Certified Public Accountant Kevin Wadle says these changes will affect different people in different ways, and the changes won’t be consistent.

He tells KNIA/KRLS News whether the new forms will be simpler, as some taxpayers have heard.

“In some ways, yes; I think there will be more people that will be able to file a simpler return this year — I think that’s accurate,” Wadle says.

“Whether it seems simpler in the process is yet to be determined because the Form 1040 itself is changed dramatically, and there are new schedules one through six that supplement the Form 1040 that haven’t existed before.”

Wadle says he and his colleagues at least had the advantage of advance warning. Changes usually come in the last two months of a year, so accountants have to scramble to learn the new laws; but these changes were announced early in 2018, so Wadle says there was time for him to take webinars and study up on everything involved.

Still, he expects there will be a lot of nuances which won’t be apparent until tax filing season begins and his customers begin preparing their returns.