Posted on 02/19/2019 10:45:19 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Wait, I owe the IRS?
The first tax filing season under the new federal tax law is proving to be surprising, confusing - and occasionally frightening - for some Americans, especially those accustomed to getting money back from the government.
Take Andy Kraft and Amy Elias of Portland, Oregon. The couple had grown comfortable getting a small refund each year, a few hundred dollars or more. Then they found out they owe $10,160 this year.
"I will never forget the moment, I thought 'We look good' and then we added in the next W-2 and my jaw hit the floor," Kraft said. "There was no way I wanted to believe that what I was looking at was accurate."
President Trump promised a reduction in taxes with the new law. And by most measures, the majority of Americans will see one. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center projected the tax law would reduce individual income taxes by about $1,260 on average, although it benefits higher earners more. But not everyone is benefiting, including some taxpayers who failed to adjust their withholding.
The IRS has encouraged people to do a "paycheck checkup," saying that "some taxpayers might prefer to have less tax withheld up front and receive more in their paychecks." The trouble is, few Americans seem to have done that.
The majority of workers didn't bother to change their withholding, according to payroll processing firm ADP.
"Not many people took the time or trouble to see if the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affects them personally," Pete Isberg, ADP's head of government relations, recently told CBS News.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
I understand that, but the tax cut wouldn’t have gotten into the economy without getting into paychecks first.
See tagline
Me too. I get more per check and got almost 2,000 more than usual on my refund. I live in high tax New Jersey and work in NYC.
I agree 100%, but some people just cannot save. Not everybody is the same. And besides, they had already set up their exemptions for the gov't to "hold" their money & were unpleasantly surprised with a lower refund.
I'm just telling you what happened to a lot of people. The gov't didn't make it too clear the withholding tables were changed. They said people were getting more money because of the tax cuts, they didn't really explain that the withholding tables were changed.
True, but I don't think the gov't did a good job of telling people the withholding tables were changed. I think most people thought they would get an even bigger refund because of the tax cuts, not that less was being paid in all year.
These people who are “shocked” are true uninformed/misinformed nitwits of the first order.
I saved money all year on my lower taxes. And got more money back than I have in years.
I saved money all year on my lower taxes. And got more money back than I have in years.
How do you figure, Dingelheimer?
And, we do not know what their (Portland Oregon) previous state and local taxes were, what their previous deductions were.
It is a set-up (Fake News) story. Typical.
They can blame their state lawmakers for the high taxes in their state. It’s not up to the rest of the states to bail them out.
I made more money than I did last year, but I paid 1% less tax than last time.
Agree with that. But who listens to government advice?
Lincoln was the first President to provide a federal tax deduction for state income taxes paid. It’s based on the federalist principle that the state governments are the primary governing authorities in domestic affairs, and the national government should not undermine that arrangement
Sorry, There is no reason that normal states should be forced to subsidize the liberal high-tax states.
All the states are treated the same when it comes to federal taxes. Your beef is with state government.
I’m paying more total tax than previously because I have more than 2.2 children and two, while teens, were 17 and older last year. Posted this a while back, and couldn’t believe how many people just wouldn’t accept that my taxes had gone up. I was very clear that while I live in NJ, the SALT limitation was no problem for me - I actually benefited from the increased standard deduction, and wouldn’t itemize for the first time in years. The fact is that over $20,000 more income is now subject to tax that hadn’t been in the past (due to the loss of exemptions); I even suggested those who couldn’t follow the discussion that they simply type in their browser: “Who is hurt by the new tax law?” - and they’d see: some families.
“Only those Americans in high tax states...”
My increased federal income tax has nothing to do with a “high cost state”; I’m actually benefiting from the increased standard deduction. The higher income tax is caused by the loss of personal exemptions - especially for some children that no longer qualify for the child tax credit (the reduced dependent credit in no way compensates for that).
By removing personal exemptions, the government now taxes over $20,000 more of our income. I read that childless tenants benefited most from this tax law in terms of real tax cuts; social engineering has always been part of the tax code, and they’ve been rewarded.
All the states are treated the same when it comes to federal taxes. Your beef is with state government.
Yes, that’s how things worked when the deduction was allowed, it applied to everyone equally.
Calling a tax deduction a “subsidy” by other people is Democrat-speak. Teddy Kennedy always called it a tax “expenditure when anyone got a tax cut. In contrast Milton Friedman said any tax cut was good.
Republicans under Ryan chose to raise taxes - by ending the salt deduction - because they didn’t want to cut spending
We had quite a bit less withheld last year than the year before, with roughly the same income. But we also owed money last year, but getting a small refund this year. So I got to keep more of my money throughout the year and it worked out well for me.
Didn’t read the article - but hard to believe these people had that much difference. Either made up or they did something really stupid.
It hit my kids hard and it sucked.
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