Taxes?

Ralph Cramden wrote:

Desert Captain wrote:
Just did my taxes {Turbo Tax} and got the rude surprise that awaits most folks who have yet to do so...

We always take the standard deduction which has been nearly doubled to $24,000. Our income and estimated tax payments were virtually the same as last year. I was expecting a nice refund given the increase in the standard deduction but... Our taxes went up!

Turbo Tax always takes me through a hundred questions in a search to see if we should itemize {we never do} and the standard deduction is always our best path. In completing these question TT showed that for the first time the interest on our RV loan is no longer deductible, it always had been in the past.

So with a taxable income of $42,000 and the new standard deduction of $24,000 we paid more then ever before. Looks like they nearly doubled my taxes... Arrrrg!

:M

Check your math.

Agreed. If your income has not changed and you have always taken the standard deduction in the past, your taxes will decrease due to the simple math of higher deductions and the fact that rates decreased across the board.
There are many people finding they are receiving lower refunds this year. But that is due to the fact the withholding tables were adjusted to reflect the new tax rates. Less money was withheld from their checks, so there is smaller refunds even though their actual taxes decreased. It is amazing the number of people who equate the size of their refund to the amount of taxes paid. It has been said that the worst legislation ever was the laws that instituted withholding by employers. Until that time, you had to actually pay your taxes, so you actually saw how much it was. Now many people have no concept of how much taxes they actually pay since they never see the money and they are so out of touch they don't realize those amounts withheld out of their checks is actually money they earned and are now paying directly to the treasury.