Effective tax increase - irritating

[Larry Ragman]

JBME wrote:

... Also, the amount of income subject to the dreaded AMT also went up. I personally wish they had eliminated AMT, and it appeared that was likely going to happen, but it didn’t. Needless to say, the primary reason I come out ahead with these tax cuts is only because I have 3 kids. $6k dollar-for-dollar off my taxes is a huge help

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I'm with you, but the practical effect is that virtually none of us will be subject to the AMT now.

[ENT Doc]

I know you weren’t. Was more of a reply all to let everyone know that it’s not accurate to say corporations benefited but to have the statement end there with a “hurumph!”.  It doesn’t do the situation justice. Owners of the stocks of those companies benefited (everyone here), not some separate entity. Also, pass through companies benefited, which are more directly connected to the individual. And lastly, on an individual income tax basis 80+% of Americans will pay less tax.

Now, you may not pass a value judgement but I will. Reducing the corporate rate was a good thing - we were terribly positioned as a nation in an increasingly global business environment. However, the lack of offsetting tax increases, deduction/credit removals, and/or spending cuts to create a budget neutral situation was absolute nonsense.

[ENT Doc]

*not accurate to say - you get what I mean

Edited above.

[jhwkr542]

Larry Ragman wrote:

JBME wrote:

… Also, the amount of income subject to the dreaded AMT also went up. I personally wish they had eliminated AMT, and it appeared that was likely going to happen, but it didn’t. Needless to say, the primary reason I come out ahead with these tax cuts is only because I have 3 kids. $6k dollar-for-dollar off my taxes is a huge help

Click to expand…

I’m with you, but the practical effect is that virtually none of us will be subject to the AMT now.

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Maybe we could've just scrapped the other system and just all pay AMT...

[SwanSong]

This depends on your income and whether you have kids. Higher income, single professionals would be the majority of those who will pay more in taxes. I lose deductions, too, but the new child tax credits and new tax brackets more than make up for it. If you were living in the 33% tax bracket previously, I would be surprised if you didn't come out ahead.

[DCdoc]

Doesn’t make sense given what you’ve written.  A 12k loss of decuctions should be offset by lower rates.  Even at the highest bracket that’s only costing you $5k more (39% of 12k).  You’ll only save $1k (5-1=4) from the new brackets?  It’s those in high cost states who were deducting $60-100k in local taxes (now cut to 10) who are going to be paying a lot more.

[Eagleeyes]

Gotta pay for handouts to the middle American farmers somehow. Can’t just buy their votes directly. That would be unseemly.

[Peds]

DCdoc wrote:

Doesn’t make sense given what you’ve written.  A 12k loss of decuctions should be offset by lower rates.  Even at the highest bracket that’s only costing you $5k more (39% of 12k).  You’ll only save $1k (5-1=4) from the new brackets?  It’s those in high cost states who were deducting $60-100k in local taxes (now cut to 10) who are going to be paying a lot more.

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thats why i asked for numbers.

[Dusn]

Hey now, Eagleeyes, without those corn subsidies to the farmers how would our patients afford those cheap high fructose corn syrup foods that keeps diabetes rampant and our clinics so busy?   What about the starvation epidemic in the US?

[Zaphod]

Dusn wrote:

I would think a smart political party would want nothing to do with healthcare, will kick in down the road, and blame it on the other party.  Every solution will have major problems, people will be upset, and you’re just taking ownership of the hot potato.

I just wish they had made the tax code simpler and closed a lot of loopholes.  The amount of effort we all spend figuring out taxes contributes nothing to society.

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Oh, look at your idealism. I did not mean they would actually do something about it, I just meant as a campaign/agenda thing to fire people up and get them on your side, aka, winning. It speaks to people, its expensive and effects everyone, as even doctors complain on here. Just two issues that are likely to fire up a base.

I'd overlook some serious flaws if a candidate could squash these scammers.

[gap55u]

Oops. Several people have questioned my math. I looked at my 2017 return and the IRS withholding calculator. In fact, the projection is
- I will owe less tax overall.
- somehow the irs withholding calculator says I will still owe 4K based on what had been withheld thus far.

I’m going to check my pay stubs for tax withheld to date last year and this year.

All in all, this implies that my job is not withholding enough tax, and this is despite adjusting earlier this year to have more withheld. Interesting.

[StarTrekDoc]

jhwkr542 wrote:

Larry Ragman wrote:

JBME wrote:

… Also, the amount of income subject to the dreaded AMT also went up. I personally wish they had eliminated AMT, and it appeared that was likely going to happen, but it didn’t. Needless to say, the primary reason I come out ahead with these tax cuts is only because I have 3 kids. $6k dollar-for-dollar off my taxes is a huge help

Click to expand…

I’m with you, but the practical effect is that virtually none of us will be subject to the AMT now.

Click to expand…

Maybe we could’ve just scrapped the other system and just all pay AMT…

Click to expand...

Bring back flat tax Perot!  Does make life a lot easier and truly simplified.

[Peds]

GPGP wrote:

– I will owe less tax overall.

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figured. good you checked.

GPGP wrote:

All in all, this implies that my job is not withholding enough tax, and this is despite adjusting earlier this year to have more withheld. Interesting.

Click to expand...

they did change the withholding calculations and depending when your work implemented them yes it might be off. plenty of time to adjust to hit 0 by the end of the year.

[jacoavlu]

I found the withholding calculator wanted me to withhold too much tax, compared with running my own full year tax calculations, factoring in itemized deductions, child tax credits, etc. I would advise OP to run a couple tax calculators independent from the IRS and compare. There are many around on the web.