2018 Trump tax laws

[Akivah]

There are some interesting components to this year's US federal income tax law. I kept it simple and didn't include every provision, nor full details.

Comparison of 2017 to 2018, Married filing Joint brackets:
2017: 1st bracket: Up to $18,650 10% ________ 2018: Up to 19,050 10%
2017: 2nd bracket: Up to $75,900 15% ________ 2018: Up to 77,400 12%
2017: 3rd bracket: Up to $153,100 25% ________ 2018: Up to 165,000 22%
2017: 4th bracket: Up to $233,350 28% ________ 2018: Up to 315,000 24%
2017: 5th bracket: Up to $416,700 33% _________ 2018: Up to 400,000 32%
2017: 6th bracket: Up to $470,700 35% _________ 2018: Up to 600,000 35%
2017: Over $470,700 39.6% _________________ 2018: Over 600,000 37%

So just counting the brackets, anyone that has taxable income (TI) over $18,650 will pay less tax in 2018 than in 2017. Mathematically, anyone that has a higher TI will realize greater savings, but they will still pay more tax than someone that has less TI. For example, a couple that has TI of $40,000 paid 5,067.50 in 2017 and will pay 4,419 in 2018. A $648.50 tax decrease. Whereas a couple that has TI of $100,000 paid 16,477.50 in 2017 and will pay 13,879 in 2018. A $2,598.50 decrease.

Standard deductions nearly double to $24K for couples and $12K for singles. Folks over 65 get a bit more.

Personal exemptions are gone.

Interest on new acquisition debt of personal homes up to $750K price are allowed. No interest allowed on home equity loans.

No deductions for employee business expenses, tax return preparation fees, theft losses and most job-related moves.

The medical expense floor is lowered from 10% down to 7.5% of adjusted gross income (AGI).

Phaseout of itemized deductions is gone.

The requirement to have health insurance or pay a fine is repealed after 2018.

The child tax credit is doubled and the phaseout ceilings are raised.

There is a NEW $500 credit for each dependent who is not a qualifying child, such as an elderly parent or an adult child. It is nonrefundable.

The kiddie tax increased. Their unearned income is taxed at estate rates rather than parent's highest rate.

The write off for business losses on individual returns is capped and the excess can be carried forward.

Business write offs that are eliminated include: business entertainment, country club dues, net operating losses only offset 80% of TI (instead of dollar for dollar), sexual harassment settlement payments accompanied by a nondisclosure agreement, transportation fringe benefits like parking, commuting, or mass transit.

Company payments for family or medical leave to workers get a NEW business credit of 12.5%, but just for 2018 and 2019.

 

[David1967]

You mean I get to keep more of what I work for? And how is this not good?

 

[Altfish]

You mean I get to keep more of what I work for? And how is this not good?

It may well be; so long as the roads, water supply, sewerage, law enforcement, education, health care, etc. that you rely on have enough money to function properly.

 

[metis]

What about the cuts to Medicaid that will hurt the poor and many of the elderly-- don't they count? What about the estimated $1-2 trillion increase in the deficit over the next 10 years that will burden our children-- don't they count?

All the tax cut is is a "sugar-high", and we know that "sugar" may taste good but is bad for us in the long run.

 

[metis]

It may well be; so long as the roads, water supply, sewerage, law enforcement, education, health care, etc. that you rely on have enough money to function properly.

And we can add inflation to that list.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Depends upon how we the consumer, spend the money. If we hoard it in the bank, it isn't going to do much good for the economy.

But I'm all for putting more money in people's pockets. That's a win-win situation.

 

[metis]

But I'm all for putting more money in people's pockets. That's a win-win situation.

Actually it isn't since there are a great many of needs that our society has to have, such as infrastructure, education, medical care, etc. As the saying goes, "No man is an island".

 

[sun rise]

Actually it isn't since there are a great many of needs that our society has to have, such as infrastructure, education, medical care, etc. As the saying goes, "No man is an island".

Along with those on the bottom get very little and in some cases wind up paying more while those at the top make out like the bandits they are. "The devil is in the details".

 

[Akivah]

Depends upon how we the consumer, spend the money. If we hoard it in the bank, it isn't going to do much good for the economy.

But I'm all for putting more money in people's pockets. That's a win-win situation.

I don't understand. You want people to keep more of their own money as long as they don't keep it?

 

[Akivah]

It may well be; so long as the roads, water supply, sewerage, law enforcement, education, health care, etc. that you rely on have enough money to function properly.

It's sort of an oxymoron. By definition, anything that government does, does not function properly.

 

[Sunstone]

Trump's tax cut sticks the bill to the children and grandchildren of the people who praise it. As I see it, this reflects a change in American culture that was most likely the fault of the baby boomers -- a generation both Trump and I belong to -- the generation that the conservative author Tom Wolf derided as the "Me Generation".

Bush wanted to invade Afghanistan, but didn't want to raise taxes to pay for it, so he stuck the bill to his children and grandchildren.

Bush wanted to invade Iraq, but didn't want to raise taxes to pay for it, so he again stuck the bill to his children and grandchildren.

Obama didn't want to raise taxes to to pay for Bush, so he too allowed his children and grand-children to get screwed.

Then Trump wanted to cut taxes, so he stuck the bill for it to his children, grandchildren, and probably great-grandchildren, given the size of the cuts.

Don't get me wrong. I think the poor and middle class should have a tax cut. An even greater one than was given to them was needed to help offset their stagnant or declining incomes, boost consumer spending, and thus boost the economy.

But the bill should have been paid by raising taxes on the rich. Of course, to do so would be to go against American cultural assumptions and myths about how "unfair" that would be to rich people, and how greatly that would "wreck the economy".

Well, we have in all likelihood succeeded in wrecking the economy now -- but the economy we've wrecked is the economy our children, and our children's children will face. Of course no one wants to hear that.

Americans love to be BSed. Tell them the truth and they'll meet you with outrage. Lie sweetly to them and they'll vote you in as president.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Trump's tax cut sticks the bill to the children and grandchildren of the people who praise it. As I see it, this reflects a change in American culture that was most likely the fault of the baby boomers -- a generation both Trump and I belong to -- the generation that the conservative author Tom Wolf derided as the "Me Generation".

Bush wanted to invade Afghanistan, but didn't want to raise taxes to pay for it, so he stuck the bill to his children and grandchildren.

Bush wanted to invade Iraq, but didn't want to raise taxes to pay for it, so he again stuck the bill to his children and grandchildren.

Obama didn't want to raise taxes to to pay for Bush, so he too allowed his children and grand-children to get screwed.

Then Trump wanted to cut taxes, so he stuck the bill for it to his children, grandchildren, and probably great-grandchildren, given the size of the cuts.

Don't get me wrong. I think the poor and middle class should have a tax cut. An even greater one than was given to them was needed to help offset their stagnant or declining incomes, boost consumer spending, and thus boost the economy.

But the bill should have been paid by raising taxes on the rich. Of course, to do so would be to go against American cultural assumptions and myths about how "unfair" that would be to rich people, and how greatly that would "wreck the economy". Americans love to be BSed. Tell them the truth and they'll meet you with outrage. Lie sweetly to them and they'll vote you in as president.

I wonder what would happen if there was some sort of "wealth tax". The mega-rich do a put a financial cost on this country in the defense of the vast properties that they own. What would the reaction of the rich be if all of their assets were taxable. It might take some forensic accountants to find offshore accounts, but if the penalty for doing that was say 90% of the contents of the account I wonder how many people would take the risk.

 

[Sunstone]

I wonder what would happen if there was some sort of "wealth tax". The mega-rich do a put a financial cost on this country in the defense of the vast properties that they own. What would the reaction of the rich be if all of their assets were taxable. It might take some forensic accountants to find offshore accounts, but if the penalty for doing that was say 90% of the contents of the account I wonder how many people would take the risk.

I think some kind of tax on assets will eventually be necessary to offset the damage that's been done over the past forty years to the middle class and poor.

 

[Shaul]

It may well be; so long as the roads, water supply, sewerage, law enforcement, education, health care, etc. that you rely on have enough money to function properly.

But tax revenue receipts went up. The government is collecting more money while simultaneously individuals are being taxed less. Win-win.

 

[Subduction Zone]

But tax revenue receipts went up. The government is collecting more money while simultaneously individuals are being taxed less. Win-win.

Tax revenues often go up in a recovery. And Trump has done very little to change the economy. Properly speaking we are probably still in the Obama recovery, not the Trump Bump.

 

[TheBannerofHomuraAkemi]

Trump's tax cut sticks the bill to the children and grandchildren of the people who praise it. As I see it, this reflects a change in American culture that was most likely the fault of the baby boomers -- a generation both Trump and I belong to -- the generation that the conservative author Tom Wolf derided as the "Me Generation".

Bush wanted to invade Afghanistan, but didn't want to raise taxes to pay for it, so he stuck the bill to his children and grandchildren.

Bush wanted to invade Iraq, but didn't want to raise taxes to pay for it, so he again stuck the bill to his children and grandchildren.

Obama didn't want to raise taxes to to pay for Bush, so he too allowed his children and grand-children to get screwed.

Then Trump wanted to cut taxes, so he stuck the bill for it to his children, grandchildren, and probably great-grandchildren, given the size of the cuts.

Don't get me wrong. I think the poor and middle class should have a tax cut. An even greater one than was given to them was needed to help offset their stagnant or declining incomes, boost consumer spending, and thus boost the economy.

But the bill should have been paid by raising taxes on the rich. Of course, to do so would be to go against American cultural assumptions and myths about how "unfair" that would be to rich people, and how greatly that would "wreck the economy".

Well, we have in all likelihood succeeded in wrecking the economy now -- but the economy we've wrecked is the economy our children, and our children's children will face. Of course no one wants to hear that.

Americans love to be BSed. Tell them the truth and they'll meet you with outrage. Lie sweetly to them and they'll vote you in as president.

I don't plan on having kids, so am I excuse from this sin?

 

[metis]

By definition, anything that government does, does not function properly.

Like the U.S. Armed Services and Medicare and Social Security, which even those who claim to be "conservatives" love and want?

 

[Subduction Zone]

Like the U.S. Armed Services and Medicare and Social Security, which even those who claim to be "conservatives" love and want?

Or something that he used even more often and it is almost invisible as a result. The streets and sidewalks that he walks and drives on every day. Think of what a pain it would be if every time you left your house you would have to pay some private company for the privilege to do so.

 

[tytlyf]

Trump's corporate policy tax plan has officially slowed the economy. Once again, the republican party shows they don't care about the middle class, just their corporate overlords (Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Agro, MIC, NRA, etc)

GOP = Greed Over Principle

 

[Twilight Hue]

Actually it isn't since there are a great many of needs that our society has to have, such as infrastructure, education, medical care, etc. As the saying goes, "No man is an island".

Enough money already goes to these places. I don't fall for those ruses anymore.