Tax Day — April 15th — is less than two weeks away. For many people, that means now is the time to scramble and find every piece of financial paperwork needed to file their taxes.
About two-thirds of tax filers will get a refund. Of course, others will likely have to pay. But even in the last few days before the tax deadline, people are still mulling over what forms to fill out and how their tax filings might have changed due to the passage of last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Despite all of those changes, Prof. Francine Lipman with UNLV's Boyd School of Law said, most Nevadans still qualify for the standard deduction of $31,500 for married couples filing jointly, $15,750 for single filers or married filing separately, and $23,625 for heads of household.
"I hate to tell listeners, but their home mortgage interest expense and the wonderful property taxes that we pay to the state of Nevada — more than 90% do not get a tax benefit from those because they still qualify for the standard deduction," Lipman said.
Another big change from the previous tax year: Taxpayers who bought a new car in 2025 can, in some cases, deduct interest on their auto loan. However, in CPA Todd Cox's experience in Las Vegas, few car buyers have qualified for the deduction.
"The car loan interest deduction is only eligible for new cars purchased during the [2025] tax year, and only for cars manufactured in the United States," he told State of Nevada. "I haven't had one come through my office yet who was eligible."
As for advice, Cox recommends business owners do everything they can to track their expenses throughout the year.
"One of the biggest things that I see with people is they don't consider the deductions that they're eligible for in their business, or they fail to track them adequately," Cox said. "Get your mileage right. If you've got a business, that involves your phone and the Internet expense, and any of those subscriptions that you have. That kind of stuff is a deduction for any of those small businesses."
According to Lipman, the best advice is to take advantage of free tax preparation services, such as those offered by the Nevada Free Taxes Coalition.
"They provide free assistance throughout Clark County," Lipman said. "In addition, the IRS website has free online software. So access it. It's question and answer. Use free resources first, before you go to a paid professional."
"And don't procrastinate," she added.
Guests: Todd Cox, CPA; Prof. Francine Lipman, William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV
