These Popular Tax Breaks Might Be Gone for Good

For most Americans, filing their tax returns for the 2018 tax year is just a distant and unpleasant memory.

A few had hoped that Congress might get around to extending some much-loved tax breaks that have been popular over the years.

Now, those hopes are close to getting dashed. Time and time again, lawmakers have failed to get any forward momentum going on tax extenders, and many now think that key tax breaks might never come back.

Tax extenders are provisions that give tax incentives to taxpayers on certain items, but only for a limited period of time.  Temporary tax breaks come about because the federal government has to account for the long-term budgetary impact of any changes to tax laws.  It's more expensive to pass a tax break that will extend permanently into the future than it is to have it be in effect for only a single year.

Therefore, some tax breaks get passed on a temporary basis, and it's up to Congress to decide year in and year out whether to renew them.