Plog Number 275
The 2017 Tax Act
Hola Ploggers, how are you. I hope you were able to enjoy the recent nice weather. Different parts of the country have had different weather challenges. Hawaii had an earthquake. So did California. The Midwest had lots of warm southerly winds. Our annuals have started coming up, way too early. I feel that they will somehow recoup and wait until March or April to do this. Nature is amazingly smart and will right itself.
But it is also tax time. I try to have my taxes at my preparers by February 17th and it is almost that time. So lets talk about taxes. We will all be filing by April 15 unless we file late with or without an extension. The Trump and Paul Ryan Tax Plan has some definite changes for average people that will take effect for our filing this year.
Here are some of the changes:
The tax brackets and corresponding earnings have changed. For the same $100K we earned in 2023 that put us in the 22% category. That income will now place you into the 24% bracket. In short all categories went up accordingly. If you earned $44k in 2023 you were in the 12%. In 2024 the same $44k would put you in the 22% category. Single, head of household or married but filing separate people will share in these changes.
The Standard Deduction has gone up from $12.5k to $18k.
Mortgage Changes-Getting a deduction for paying property taxes is going away. Getting a deduction for paying mortgage interest remains.
The Child Tax credit has been increased to $2K.
The estate and gift tax exemption has been increased.
***The Corporate tax rate has been lowered from35 to 21%.
There will no longer be a requirement of showing healthcare. That provision was from the ACA and will be removed probably to spite Obama.
The highest earners are being given a break. Their tax burden went from 39.6% to 37%. That is thousands of dollars.
The changes hit the middle class in the pocket while saving money for wealthy corporations. Lowering the corporate tax rate to 21% is less than family making $100k a year would pay. That family will now be at 22% and there are way more families in this category than wealthy corporations.
So I talked about this dry topic because the tax changes were designed to take most of the tax burden from the middle income earners. It will also reduce the amount of taxes obtained from the wealthiest among us. Remember this when you go to vote. Remember this when they tell you they don’t have enough money for Social Security and ask you to take a cut. Be careful where you spend your money. Stay informed and RECLAIM!
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