Dan Bongino: Are middle-class taxes going up under President Donald Trump? This tax season there seems to be a lot of confusion.
Thanks to @realDonaldTrump and @GOP tax bill, my family was just hit with the largest tax increase in our lives by them getting rid of itemized deductions like mortgage interest on federal taxes.
I’ve been a loyal conservative, voting Republican since I could vote.
What a joke!
— Dennis Jordan (@DennisMJordan) February 4, 2019
Owing More Doesn’t Mean Paying More
A widely circulated CNN article is being misinterpreted to claim that taxes up are in 2018. “The average refund is down about 8% under the first full year of the overhauled tax code, according to data released by the IRS on Friday. Refunds averaged $1,865 compared to $2,035 for tax year 2017,” reported Victoria Cavaliere.
A large source of the confusion seems to be coming from the fact that the percentage of income withheld from paychecks has decreased. Suppose for the sake of simplicity that someone earns $50,000 a year, pays 20% tax ($10,000 annually), and pays that tax in the form of $200 a week for a 50-week work-year. Since they pay exactly what’s owed, they would receive no refund. Now suppose the tax rate decreases to 18% (so $180 a week is owed), but because a smaller percentage of taxes are withheld, only $170 is actually paid. Thus, while that person had their taxes decrease by $100 overall, they would still end up owing $500 at the end of the year.
Or put simpler: people are receiving smaller refunds because they paid fewer taxes in the first place.
It’s doubtful that the average employee is paying attention to such a thing, so you can hardly fault some people for mistakingly believing their taxes went up. However, those economically inclined have known this since July 2018 when the Government Accountability Office released a report stating that 30 million taxpayers would end up owing money in 2019 due to insufficient withholding, a significant increase over the year prior. The percentage of employers that over-withheld employees taxes decreased from 76% to 73% from 2018-2019, and the percentage that underwithheld tax increased from 18% to 21%. Both groups are likely to see an increase in their taxes owed.
If you’re getting a tax refund than means you overpaid your taxes during the prior year.
abolish income tax….
“Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act.” Geo. Orwell
Our local news had people complaining about less refund dollars. Of course they weren’t saying anything about paying less taxes all year.
Your refund also depends on how much your own state is screwing you in taxes.
I was at a lumberyard earlier today and some guy with a young helper were discussing they had heard on the radio that people were getting smaller refunds. When they began saying things about how they’ve been hoodwinked by Trump and his tax cuts I interjected myself into the conversation. I asked if they were self employed or working for somebody else. They said they were employees of someone else. I then asked them if they were getting more take home pay than before the taxcut. The older of the two thought for a few seconds and said, “you’re right.” I paid for my goods and said upon leaving, “the media is not your friend.”
It is shocking how many people are happy to let the government use their money for up to a year with no interest just so they can get a big refund.
RadioMattM same with the liberal dyke run Orygone…they want you to make monthly installments ahead of time or pay a fine. The fine doesn’t amount to shit, and I don’t pay until the last day…FUKEM!
So progressives are fucking around with numbers in an effort to try to show that taxes on the middle class went up. But those same progressives are stating unequivocally that they will raise taxes if returned to power – thereby fucking everyone.
Yes, I know that progressives are claiming they just want to tax the rich. Remember the alternative minimum tax? At first it only applied to a small percentage of American taxpayers, but over the years it began to apply to almost everyone. I’ll still vote for the party that at least tries to lower taxes as opposed to the party that loudly proclaims they will raise them.
People are dumber than anybody.
Returns? I’m gonna text return in years. I’m a business owner to pay taxes I don’t get any tax return.