How Change in (2017) Tax Law Affected People and Economy Introduction

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 led to significant tax changes that affected individual taxpayers, businesses and the economy. The new tax legislation was signed into law on 22nd December 2017 by President Donald Trump. Three days earlier (19th December 2017) both the U.S Senate and U.S House of Representatives had passed the bill in a vote of 51- 48 and 227 -203, respectively. Most of the provisions in TCJA are valid from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2025. This paper will compare the prior tax law with the current provisions of TCJA and highlight the impact of tax changes on individual taxpayers, businesses, and the economy in general.

Individual Tax Reforms

TCJA lowered the tax bill of individual taxpayers. Some of the individual tax reforms are explained below.

Income Tax Rate

The TCJA law lowers individual income tax rates and replaces the old tax brackets. In the prior law, the top marginal tax rate was 39.6 percent, but in the TCJA it is 37 percent. The old tax rates of 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35% and 39.6% was replaced with new tax rates of 10%, 15%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%. The new tax rates reduced by three points at most. Table A1 and Table B2 display the changes in income tax rates for single and married, joint filers, respectively (See Appendix A and Appendix B).

The TCJA also modifies income tax bracket widths. The TCJA top marginal tax rate of 37 percent will apply to individual taxpayers with a taxable income of $500,000 and above. It is also applicable to married taxpayers filing jointly $600,000 and above. In the prior law, the top tax rate of 39.6 percent applied to individual taxpayers with a taxable income greater than $426,700 and married taxpayers filing jointly $480,050 and above. The tax brackets will also be adjusted annually to reflect changes in inflation rates. In the prior law,...

TCJA specifies that the chained consumer price index (C-CPI –U) will be used to measure inflation.
Child Tax Credit

Child tax credit in the prior law was $1,000 and in the TCJA it is $2,000. TCJA also increases the phase-out credit for married couples to $400,000 (In 2017, it was $110,000). Under TCJA, the refundable amount will not exceed $1,400 per child (It was $1,000 in the prior law). Generally, tax credits are beneficial to the taxpayer because they reduce the tax bill. The changes in child tax credit will expire after 2025.

Alimony Payments

TCJA excludes alimony (maintenance) payments from the income of the recipient. In the prior law, alimony payments were deducted from the income of the payor and added to the income of the payee. This new law will increase the tax liability of the alimony payor. The provisions of alimony payments are permanent.

Education (529 Plan)

TCJA expands the 529 savings plan to include primary and secondary school expenses. The prior law, there were two savings plans and seven different education incentives. The new law also adjusts the definition of higher education expenses to include costs associated with homeschooling. Those expenses include education therapies, online education materials, curricula and curriculum materials and books. These reforms increase education choices for families.

Standard Deductions

Individual standard deductions were doubled in the new law. In the prior law, the stand deductions for single filers was $6,500, but in the TCJA law, it is $12,000. As for joint filers, it increased from $ 12,000 to $24,000. Heads of households were also affected by the new law. Their standard deductions increased to $18,000 (It was $9,550 in 2017). Expanded standard deductions are advantageous for some taxpayers because it will increase their tax savings.…