I wasn’t going to post this one, but why not ?? We’ve got some smart smarties here. We love talking about NOT vaping/mixing/DIY’ing right ?? LOL… I’ve not been following much of the tax plan debate, but I SHOULD HAVE. We shall all (In the US that is) be affected by any tax changes, and I’ve read all the “Unless you make 1 million dollars or more, good luck” posts. I’m going to do some more research, but since I’m using the NEW Firefox, this popped up in my Pocket this morning. I shall admit to NOT ever surfing USAToday, but have @ The Motely Fool, so what the hell. Anyone want to poke holes in this story ?
A single filer with $50,000 in annual adjusted gross income (AGI) and who uses the standard deduction currently.
In fact, the new tax brackets would result in a 2018 federal income tax of $4,370, a savings of $1,121.
A married couple with $100,000 in AGI, no children, $7,000 in annual mortgage interest, $4,000 in charitable contributions, and $3,000 in other itemized deductions.
The new tax brackets would result in taxable income of $8,739, a $1,919 savings.
A married couple with $110,000 in AGI, three children, and itemized deductions of $10,000 in mortgage interest, $4,000 in charitable contributions, and $7,000 in state and local property and income taxes.
This would reduce their taxable income to $4,799, a savings of $1,486.
A single taxpayer with $1 million in AGI who rents their home, donates $40,000 to charity, pays $45,000 in state income tax, and has no other itemizable deductions.
The generally lower marginal tax rates would result in a federal income tax of $317,190, which would be a tax cut of just $93. In other words, the three middle-income households would get much bigger tax cuts than a wealthy taxpayer like this.
An elderly married couple with assets valued at $30 million, who dies in 2018
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubles the estate tax exclusion, so $22.4 million of this couple’s assets would be exempt, resulting in an estate tax of $3.04 million, saving this couple’s heirs $4.48 million. In this sense, the bill certainly provides a big tax cut to wealthy families.
The elimination of the individual mandate, which penalizes people who do not have health care, goes into effect in 2019
-this part is nice.
The U.S. is switching to a territorial system of taxation, which means companies won’t owe federal taxes on income they make offshore. To help the transition, companies will be required to pay a one-time, low tax rate on their existing overseas profits
-not a fan of this part
The child tax credit has doubled to $2,000 for children under 17. It’s also now available, in full, to more people
-this is good for me and any others who have kids.
Over all, i understand the 34 highlighted items. There seems to be high points for lower income and middle income thrown about like confetti. But, the real winners are the corporations and the wealthy…
I am not going to get heated about it, but it is a good thing to understand.
I would like to make mention of what few people seem to be talking about. $120 billion in spending cuts that this tax bill will force. Any new legislation that adds to the deficit triggers these cuts. If you are wondering why President Trump hasn’t signed it yet there’s the reason. By delaying, those cuts are pushed to Jan. 2019 unless congress includes a provision to the budget, Republicans will need help from Democrats and that could possibly be extremely tricky.
I think it’s not too far off to think pushing these cuts until after the upcoming congressional elections is really the goal. It also seems to me that if it were signed now and those spending cuts were widely reported (or if they happened) The President’s “Christmas present” would be tarnished.
@Ryuk Agreed, that part is not really getting any attention. I cannot profess to know WHERE those cuts will be landing, but with our bloated budget, I’m not against cutting. No reason why we shouldn’t treat it like our personal budgets. If you don’t have the money, you gotta cut something out.
I hope you didn’t take that as an attack on you. I was just thinking at a time we need to cut funding why add more to that program. All it means is more money to be cut from somewhere else such as Social security, Medicare, medicaid.
@Ryuk ATTACK AWAY !!! Just kidding. No I did not. I have a thick skin. Admittedly, I’m not privy to the entire budget, and without the big picture, I can’t comment with any real accuracy. I do believe, if certain aspects are magnified by themselves, it can be misleading. Please keep the great comments, and opinions coming brother, that’s how this works !!!
Hell I don’t either and the way I see it is government makes positive and negative changes frequently.
If only everyone was willing to listen to each other without personal attacks the world would be a better place. I’m going to hug a tree now lol
Allow me to derail for a moment because I’d like to get your thoughts and share my own on the subject. I’m growing more Apathetic towards politics by the day. I know it’s bad when we stop voicing our collective opinions to the government but I truly don’t see it making any difference. Among other things I’m beyond tired of red and blue creating a divide between our population. Tree hugged again. I’m almost to the point of saying screw it let the chips fall how they will.
I was watching Barney Miller yesterday, and they were making commentary like that. That was 1978, and I’m sure that feeling has existed since probably around 1782 or so. Politics is maddening, it can be frustrating to discuss, and it can also be very souring especially when you realize that whether you’re blue or red, neither side is working towards your best interests. Anti-vape lobbying is a great example for context here.
AMEN.
But i will say after paying 31% in taxes every year it is ridiculous.
Cut programs that dont work , privatize them etc, cause this giving to the so called needy is getting sickening when its most cost effective for them NOT to work than to work… now i will quietly leave this thread before the shit starts to fly lol
Pick a political topic and you’ll get vehement debate, period. For example, say you want to postulate that a flat 15% tax rate across the board would be simple and fair. Rich people would pay much more by proportion, but everyone would pay their ‘fair share’. You’ll get 100 people screaming about how stupid and unfair that is, and you’ll get 100 people saying it’s great… Never ends.
@TW12 I take the blame for this. Honestly, I thought maybe people who knew MORE than I did, about the real, boots on the ground impact (not the rhetoric) would be able to bring light on it. Did I fear that maybe OTHER stuff might get brought in ?? It was possible. If anyone finds themselves pissed, mad, angry, or other than happy about discussing the ACTUAL impact of the new tax structure on the people who are paying it, I’ll take the hit. Was not my intention.
jk jk
