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Tax reform facts

A lot of people are complaining that the rich are the real beneficiaries of the proposed tax cuts. It stands to reason that the more you make, the more you would save with a tax cut.

But here are some numbers (from Business Insider):

Under current law, the tax brackets are 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35% and 39.6%.

Under the House’s plan, there would be 4 tax brackets rather than the seven.

The brackets proposed are 12 percent, 25 percent, 35 percent and 39.6 percent.

The Senate’s version would keep 7 brackets but at slightly lower rates and adjusted income ranges. The brackets proposed are 10 percent, 12 percent, 22 percent, 24 percent, 32 percent, 35 percent, and 38.5 percent.

Income thresholds are raised in all of the new tax brackets.

About 70 percent of Americans use the standard deduction when filing taxes, and their paychecks will increase if tax reform passes.

In 2017, the standard deduction for a single taxpayer is $6,350, plus one personal exemption of $4,050.

The House plan would combine those into one larger standard deduction for 2018: $12,200 for single filers and $24,400 for joint filers.

Under the Senate proposal, these would be slightly lower, at $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for joint filers.

The child tax credit remains under both plans and is being increased by $600.

When looking at the numbers I don’t see how these people get the idea that the middle class is getting hosed.

Most likely they are depending on talking heads to feed them the information instead of looking at the proposals themselves.

Mike Kerstetter

Watsontown

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom

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