# So, Trump's huge tax cut. How is it going to affect most of us individually? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334 "2017-04-27T00:45:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/21 "2017-04-27T16:22:26Z")
As always, [The Young Turks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxpHwKsAWIM) have a good handle on this. I probably would have a wash, gaining double exemptions but losing the state and local write offs. But I’m not concerned about me, it’s the disastrous effect this would have on the nation. You’re talking increasing the deficit to numbers so big only Stephen Hawking understands them. They make a big fucking deal about reducing the number of brackets but who the fuck cares? You do your tax form, you get to your taxable income, go to the table and find your tax. Whether there were 3 brackets or 30 that produced that number is transparent to you. Make no mistake, this is not tax reform. It is tax cuts. And they aren’t meant to benefit the schmucks who voted for the Cheeto Bandito, either. They’re meant to benefit the super elite. That “death tax” is really the fairest tax there is, and it affects only a fraction of 1% of estates. Don’t fall for their bullshit, it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul. We’re Peter, they’re Paul. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/22 "2017-04-27T16:57:16Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > I am troubled that one of the two tax breaks left in is the mortgage interest deduction. It sounds good. Home ownership is “the American Dream.” The deduction mostly serves as an indirect subsidy to the home industry. It has the added “benefit” of being regressive by helping the wealthiest more. I’d rather see it phased out finally without screwing people who made mortgage decisions based on it’s existence. The thing about the keeping of the mortgage interest deduction combined with the doubling of the standard deduction means you have to have one hell of a house before that’s going to be useful. (A married couple with a would need to _owe_ more than 600,000 on their house at today’s interest rates.) The people that Trump refers to as “forgotten Americans” do not owe that much on their homes - their homes aren’t worth that much to begin with. (cite:[median home prices](https://www.trulia.com/home_prices/)). Even more so when you combine it with removing the income/sales tax deduction and property tax deduction. My taxes, however, will get simpler. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/23 "2017-04-27T17:16:15Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > The thing about the keeping of the mortgage interest deduction combined with the doubling of the standard deduction means you have to have one hell of a house before that’s going to be useful. (A married couple with a would need to _owe_ more than 600,000 on their house at today’s interest rates.) The people that Trump refers to as “forgotten Americans” do not owe that much on their homes - their homes aren’t worth that much to begin with. (cite:[median home prices](https://www.trulia.com/home_prices/)). Even more so when you combine it with removing the income/sales tax deduction and property tax deduction. > > My taxes, however, will get simpler. Are you accounting for other likely deductable items? You can currently itemize on DC income tax alone before you get to $100k in wages. ETA that’s for a single person, sorry. You very clearly said married. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/24 "2017-04-27T17:21:23Z")
Apologies to the moderator for straying a bit beyond the topic. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/25 "2017-04-27T17:29:03Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Are you accounting for other likely deductable items? You can currently itemize on DC income tax alone before you get to $100k in wages. For married jointly that happens in the low 100s. With this tax plan, high 200s (or so). But, the plan implies that he’s getting rid of all of the other deductions. So there are no other likely deductible items, including state income (and state sales) tax. It’s just house and charity. But yes, if that’s a nonstarter (likely), then people in high tax states will be able to deduct that as well. People in “forgotten America” don’t live in those states. They’ve already slashed their state taxes. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/26 "2017-04-27T17:47:34Z")
I don’t know how to word this without it coming off like a political pot-shot, but the odds are it would affect nearly everybody negatively. We’re talking about one of the most complex and inter-dependent systems on Earth being “redesigned” off-handedly by someone with no understanding of, or experience with, that system, and with the reasoning ability of a five year old. Were it to somehow come into being, vast unintended consequences would arise, pretty much dwarfing the financial effects of whatever my tax bill turned out to be. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/27 "2017-04-27T17:51:45Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Repealing the estate tax would be an absolute windfall for the 1%. Projections from the [Tax Policy Center](http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-many-people-pay-estate-tax) are that, for 2017, 11,000 estate tax returns will be filed. Of those, 5,200 will have to pay, and the total tax collected is projected at $19.7 billion. > > So, the awful awful “death tax” only affects 5,200 decendents, out of the 2.7 million total number of deaths, or about 0.1% of households. Even dividing it absolutely evenly (which it isn’t), this is a grab that takes $19.7 billion from the treasury and puts $3.75 million back into the pockets of the well-off heirs of each and every person who would have been subject to the estate tax. > > For people who hate math: this means the estate tax only affects the super-duper-rich, just the way it should. The family farm is safe. 1. If something is “awful awful” why does it matter how many it affects? 2. AFAIU, it affects any inheritance that is worth more than $5M in 2011 dollars. A lot of family farms are worth more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/28 "2017-04-27T17:53:24Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > This calculator is out of date, but can give a rough idea. Supposedly this plan is similar to the plan he had on the campaign trail. > > [https://taxfoundation.org/how-would-trump-and-clinton-tax-plans-affect-your-taxes/](https://taxfoundation.org/how-would-trump-and-clinton-tax-plans-affect-your-taxes/) Based on this, my tax bill would be cut by roughly 5%. As someone who lives a quite comfortable life, and knowing how the deficit is going to explode in the next few years even without totally reckless tax cuts, this is absolutely absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/29 "2017-04-27T19:25:50Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > 1. If something is “awful awful” why does it matter how many it affects? > 2. AFAIU, it affects any inheritance that is worth more than $5M in 2011 dollars. A lot of family farms are worth more than that. 1. The “awful awful” part was sarcasm. A transfer of money under any other circumstances (wages, purchasing goods, etc.) is taxed. I see no reason why the transfer of money at death should be treated any differently. It’s disingenuous at best and downright fraudulent at worst to pretend that the estate tax affects anyone but the super-rich. And when you compare the tax collected to the amount of wealth passed down, you grasp the absurdity: in 2012, the estate tax collected $8.5 billion of the $1.2 trillion inherited, or 0.7%. I think the rich are doing just fine. 2. Politicians tell you that, but they are lying. In 2013, there were 20 small businesses and farms that owed estate tax. _Twenty_. And those paid roughly 4.9% of their value in tax. [Cite](http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/ten-facts-you-should-know-about-the-federal-estate-tax). Even those numbers would likely be reduced with some good estate planning and the maximizing of personal exemptions. For example, the personal exemption is currently $5.49 million. By transferring the portion of your estate that exceeds that amount to your spouse, together you can transfer $11 million to your heirs. And there are additional exemptions that apply to family farms that continue to operate. Eliminating the estate tax would knock a hole in the federal budget to the tune of $225 billion over 10 years. How is it fair to pass that to the middle class and poor, or to saddle our children with additional debt? It it better to do that and permit massive tax-free wealth transfer than to expect those who have benefited most from the US to pay their fair share on a transfer of funds? Why not just increase the exemption amount? How about twenty million? Thirty? Fifty? Nope, the Republican politicians want it repealed, no matter how high the exemption goes. That tells you who’s holding the gun to their backs and whispering in their ears. ---
**Author:** ![moldmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@moldmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/30 "2017-04-27T20:09:29Z")
If I’m understanding this correctly this plan would make anything contributed to health insurance and retirement plans taxable. That would be significant, about $9K more taxable income a year for me . ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/31 "2017-04-27T21:16:16Z")
> [@moldmonkey](#): > > If I’m understanding this correctly this plan would make anything contributed to health insurance and retirement plans taxable. That would be significant, about $9K more taxable income a year for me . That’s a big change. One of the main reasons to push employees into retirement plans is for the tax deduction, one of the main reasons employers not only offer, but often times match contributions is because of the tax deductions. If this is getting rid of those, be prepared for personal investment into retirement accounts to drop massively. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/32 "2017-04-27T21:48:56Z")
I saw somewhere that that a journalist asked Spicer for clarification on this point and retirement changes are no longer on the table. Can’t find it now. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/33 "2017-04-27T21:52:18Z")
I haven’t done enough math to be sure, but my mental ballpark is that my taxes will go up by around $12k. Shifting the brackets around will cost me a few $k. The elimination of the SALT deductions will cost several thousand since I live in a high state-tax area, and property tax ain’t cheap either. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/34 "2017-04-27T21:57:40Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > That’s a big change. One of the main reasons to push employees into retirement plans is for the tax deduction, one of the main reasons employers not only offer, but often times match contributions is because of the tax deductions. > > If this is getting rid of those, be prepared for personal investment into retirement accounts to drop massively. And one by one, all the loopholes and deductions are put back. ETA: I meant to quote **Ruken** (post 32) > [@](#): > > I saw somewhere that that a journalist asked Spicer for clarification on this point and retirement changes are no longer on the table. Can’t find it now. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/35 "2017-04-27T22:04:14Z")
And states with big taxes are complaining. Same article quoted NJ legislators. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334/36 "2017-04-27T22:26:59Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > This calculator is out of date, but can give a rough idea. Supposedly this plan is similar to the plan he had on the campaign trail. > > [https://taxfoundation.org/how-would-trump-and-clinton-tax-plans-affect-your-taxes/](https://taxfoundation.org/how-would-trump-and-clinton-tax-plans-affect-your-taxes/) > > From what I know of Trump’s plan (as it affects middle class people) he wants to create 3 tax brackets and double the standard deduction. In theory that would result in a middle class tax cut of maybe 1-5% of gross annual income. I’ve heard single parents will see their taxes go up though. > > However, I don’t know. I know under the current system the rate is 10% for the first ~10k in income, then 15% for 10-38k, then 25% for 38-90k. Trump wants to have 3 brackets (10, 25, 35). However I don’t know if Trump is going to expand the 10% bracket upwards or move the 25% bracket downwards. I played with it a bit, and it looks like a single parent with one child, older than age 5, would see their taxes go up if their income is $15,010 (moving for $0 to $1). Below that threshold they still pay $0. What I find interesting, is at my income, and single and with no dependents, they estimate that my tax burden would go down $1,164. But if remained single but had a school-age child, my taxes would go up $92. Oh, and that single person making $15,010? If they were childless too, they’d be paying $465 less than they do now, too. How does this work? Parents usually get taxed **less** , not more than childless people…considering how many people have kids, I don’t see this going over real well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-trumps-huge-tax-cut-how-is-it-going-to-affect-most-of-us-individually/785334.md?page=1)