Effects of Trump Administration's revised Federal Tax Plan worked as advertised for me

roundball

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
For many years I had my tax with-holdings tweaked just right so I'd never be faced with having to come up with a surprise tax payment...tweaked close so I only got simple little double digit Federal refunds.

Since I'd already picked up a copy of 2018 TurboTax, and all my 2018 tax info had now come in, I did my taxes this afternoon.
Income has been rock solid flat for several retirement years now, and the standard deduction has always been the route.

The new tax plan's "doubled standard deduction" made a huge, way above normal difference in the refund amount this time, huge.
Will now recalculate withholding to keep that in the bank drawing interest instead of letting the government play with it for free.

Kudos to the Trump administration !
 

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I did our taxes this week and basically came up with the same result RB did; a much larger refund than usual. With this being my first year in retirement plus the new tax law, I wasn't sure which way the numbers would go.
 

dobber

Old Mossy Horns
I got a letter from the Canadian version of the IRS the other week, apparently i owe $54,000 certainly a fun envelope to open, will be sorted, seems the Canadian side didn't get anything from the US side about me paying Fed and State taxes as well as my Canadian portion.
Only 1 month of US income this tax time so well below the poverty line so should get a nice refund to offset the stress
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
I have no idea where I stand. I won't know until I actually do my taxes and then redo them under the old tax law to find out if I end up better or not. HR Block has an online tool to estimate this year's taxes and tax reform impact.
https://www.hrblock.com/tax-calculator/#/en/te/aboutYou

My income is not flat like roundball's. Also I have been itemizing over the years and my itemized deductions last year were higher than this year's standard deduction. I will be taking the standard deduction due to the limit on how much state income taxes and mortgage interest you can deduct this year. Maybe I can report back after this weekend. It depends on how many other things are on my "honey-do-list" and if I have all my 1099s.
 

hunter

Eight Pointer
Contributor
Just an FYI for folks doing your own taxes using one of the tax software programs. You may want to wait to file until after the next update in case it causes changes to your taxes. My understanding that it will be around mid-month. Hopefully everyone fares well but that may depend on how much was withheld last year. Too much withholding and you get a nice refund but have essentially loaned the government the money. Have to pay much tax and likely didn't withhold enough. My taxes are pretty simple now and I figure it will take a year or two to get the withholding dialed in. Best of luck to everyone!
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
If I don't have to pay as much as I usually do I will consider it a win.

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Firedog

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I let my accountant figure out the details. However, while I will be glad if my bill is lower as a % of income..I really would have liked to see expenses reduced by 2x the tax reduction vs staying roughly the same and increasing the deficit

It is not fiscally responsible to reduce income and not reduce expense until and unless you have surplus income to start with... and we all know that's not been the case in forever at the federal level.
 

Zach's Grandpa

Old Mossy Horns
I’ve been working on mine this weekend and it appears that incomes over six figures get little if any reduction.


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sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
We have always itemized and will continue to as our deductions still exceed the standard deduction. I don't think there's much difference for us.

But I am for anything that simplifies the tax code and cuts out loopholes. I'd be fine if they just said everyone give us X% of your gross income and there were zero other considerations. You wouldn't even need to file taxes. The only refunds or payments would be if there was an error in collecting. By definition, everyone would be "paying their fair share".
 

FITZH2O

Old Mossy Horns
But I am for anything that simplifies the tax code and cuts out loopholes. I'd be fine if they just said everyone give us X% of your gross income and there were zero other considerations. You wouldn't even need to file taxes. The only refunds or payments would be if there was an error in collecting. By definition, everyone would be "paying their fair share".

That’s what I’ve been saying forever. Set percentage and everyone pays it... no deductions/ write offs or anything, you make money you pay it, don’t care if it’s $10,000 or $1,000,000 a year.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Sales tax and service taxes are what should drive our economy, not income taxes.
And this getting more back at a greater level because you made no money or little money is just plain stupid economics.
 

Papa_Smurf

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Looks like i'll get about twice my refund last year. ~$600 back last year vs ~$1200 back this year

key differences:

Wife got a ~7% raise in 2018
I got a ~13% raise in 2018
larger standard deduction means i can't itemize my mortgage interest (but still get larger deduction)
Can file my son born in 2018 as a dependent
 

shaggy

Old Mossy Horns
We saw about a $300 lose over last year. All noise really and weare still getting back just under 7k
 

BarSinister

Old Mossy Horns
I'll be darned if I were getting thousands back that I wouldn't adjust my withholdings to keep the thousands in pocket where it belongs in the 1st place.

I charge interest for loans. If they want a loan from me they can pay me a % on top of the money they borrowed.


The exception for me might be this year and next as I'm not sure if this will stay the way it is.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
It’s much easier to cash/deposit a check for a few thousand than it is to write one.

Of course I have never seen a refund more than a couple hundred here and there.
 

Zach's Grandpa

Old Mossy Horns
I'll be darned if I were getting thousands back that I wouldn't adjust my withholdings to keep the thousands in pocket where it belongs in the 1st place.

I charge interest for loans. If they want a loan from me they can pay me a % on top of the money they borrowed.


The exception for me might be this year and next as I'm not sure if this will stay the way it is.

Exactly, I’ve never understood why anyone would allow the government to keep their money interest free.


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ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
We saw about a $300 lose over last year. All noise really and weare still getting back just under 7k
Dude.....that is crazy......you need some withholding adjustments for sure! But........aren’t you the one that left job? If so may not be an issue going forward......
 

ECU_Pirate

Banned
I usually get back around 1500 or less. The interest I would get on that would not be noticable. Easier for me to just not worry about if I filed exactly right and know im getting money back. Makes budgeting easier.
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
I will be getting about 1200 back federal and $41 from the state. This was after paying about 6k last year. I also went from married to filling single. Income stayed the same for me, just dropped my ex’s income. Very happy with this. May adjust withholding later in the year to see how it works for trying to get the federal to either 0 or less than a few hundred


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shaggy

Old Mossy Horns
Dude.....that is crazy......you need some withholding adjustments for sure! But........aren’t you the one that left job? If so may not be an issue going forward......

Wife got back a lot for being a student. That wawas almost $3500. I had 15k in OT this year so I'm wondering if I'm getting some of that extra withholding back plus the child tax credit maybe?

Once my wife finishes her degree we will lose that extra 3k.
 

shaggy

Old Mossy Horns
I usually get back around 1500 or less. The interest I would get on that would not be noticable. Easier for me to just not worry about if I filed exactly right and know im getting money back. Makes budgeting easier.

We use it to take trips. Already looking at a Disney trip with my son next fall.
 

bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
Looks like i'll get about twice my refund last year. ~$600 back last year vs ~$1200 back this year

key differences:

Wife got a ~7% raise in 2018
I got a ~13% raise in 2018
larger standard deduction means i can't itemize my mortgage interest (but still get larger deduction)
Can file my son born in 2018 as a dependent

Basing off your key differences it appears that you claim at least 1 instead of 0 through the year or your income slipped into a new bracket. If it wasn't for the child it looks like you might have paid for 2018.

As far as taxing goes, that's a tough one because there are benefits of each. Flat tax rate provides a fair across the board 'tithing' to be allowed to live and work in these United States. Sales/Use tax only does make it fair as you pay for what you use but it leaves the door open to manipulation. Some sneaky folks will buy more slightly used items to circumvent the tax laws and there are businesses and individuals that don't file sales tax like they should. As far as itemized deductions, I still want them.

We file separate. She claims 0 through the year and add a little to the State. For some reason they don't withhold enough and I don't like that shock. We had a second child in 2018 so she gets to add that on her claim. As far as my claim, I pay more to file than some of your returns. Of course I use an accountant and itemize so the little extra expense is worth the peace of mind.

I hate the NC State income tax for the grotesque waste. I filed a return one year and got a $1 refund. I was livid and never cashed it, I considered it a donation to idiocy. It cost more to process and mail my refund. I still have it in mint shape, I was going to frame it but I never did.
 
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