Free Republic

The IRS on Thursday announced higher inflation adjustments for the 2024 tax year, potentially giving Americans a chance to increase their take-home pay next year. The higher limits for the federal income tax bracket and standard deductions are intended to avoid a phenomenon known as "bracket creep," which happens when taxpayers are pushed into higher-income brackets even though their purchasing power is essentially unchanged due to high inflation. The IRS makes such adjustments annually, but in times of inflation, the increases are more significant and impactful for taxpayers. This year, the tax brackets are shifting higher by about 5.4%. The...

Ever since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in late 2017, Democrats and a few Republicans have decried how the law’s $10,000 cap of the state and local tax deduction harms schools, local communities, home values, first responders, and middle-class families. Fast forward almost two years later and these false claims are not going away. House Democrats recently announced a hearing scheduled for Tuesday where many of the common myths are likely to be repeated. Here are a few of the most common misconceptions. Myth #1: The Cap Hurts Middle-Class Taxpayers Before the 2017 tax cut capped the state...

Just performed the 1/19/2018 update on my tax software. I had expected that larger standard deduction to show up, but alas it did no. Does anyone know if that deduction will show up in the February update?

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cuts rates for most tax brackets, substantially reduces business taxes, increases the standard deduction, and eliminates many tax loopholes and deductions. Congress passed historic, far-reaching tax reform legislation this week, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law soon after some technical fixes. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cuts rates for most tax brackets, substantially reduces corporate and small business taxes, increases the standard deduction for individuals and couples, and eliminates many tax loopholes and deductions.Since Republicans first rolled out their plan to implement tax reform, liberal pundits and Democrats...

The tax overhaul would raise the taxes of some earners and make it harder for states to do the same. The ultimate effect would be to decrease governments’ ability to raise taxes and increase spending – essentially reining in state budgeteers. That is an advantage to conservatives who have long sought to advance fiscal conservatism at the state level and who see the state and local tax deduction as a subsidy for high-spending, high-taxing states – that is, blue states. “This was our point from the start,” said Jonathan Williams, chief economist at the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group...