It's a good thing you put Tax reform in parenthesis,, I would have thought this was about another Hollywood sex scandal.

The shit that the press writes about as if it were important is fucking baffling.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Hard to blame them. They know their audience well.

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"The right to party is a battle we have fought, but we'll surrender and go Amish... NOT!" -Wayne Campbell

It is important. As pointed out in the article, the name given to a bill plays an important role in its popularity. That's not a great reflection on us, but I don't doubt the veracity of this particular White House poll.

It's news that major political players (Trump, Ryan, and Brady) are clashing (if true). That sets the stage for the very important negotiations that are being initiated.

They may think it's important. I just think it's funny. :-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

I want to try to avoid the politics angle on this, because I don't need an ulcer, but I think the clash is mainly over the pace of the introduction of cuts to the corporate tax rate as well as what income tax deductions are going to be eliminated.

Really, if we want to truly reform the tax code we should be looking at eliminating the mortgage interest deduction as well as the deduction for state and local income taxes. Of course, those are two major oxen that'll be gored if they're eliminated, so stand by for the fighting in Congress, is all I'll say.

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

I think if they are going to go with major changes like the elimination of the mortgage and state tax deductions, the best way to do that would be to phase the change over say 5-10 years. Trying to do it in one year would be a major blow to the real estate market and several state economies. If they phase it in, then people can adjust and plan.

details getting leaked...

https://www.usatoday.com/...deduction/823088001/

More leaks, can't verify accuracy, but seems plausible...

• 20% corporate rate (cut from 35%), permanent
• Income tax rates: 35% starts at $260,000 for married couples, $200,000 for individuals; 25% starts at $90,000 for couples, $45,000 for individuals
• Top rate remains the same -- 39.6% -- but income threshold is $1 million for married couples, $500,000 for individual
• Limits the home interest deduction to loans up to $500,000
• 10 percent global minimum tax on foreign subsidiaries (high profit)
• Expensing for business investment sunsets after five years
• $300 per person credit for filers and non-child dependents
• Child tax credit moves to $1,600
• Estate tax exemption doubles until 2024, at which point it would be repealed

If the $10,000 for property tax thing with no deductions for income tax is real, that seems odd. Can anyone explain why not just limit it to $10,000 in state and local taxes instead of favoring one type of state taxation over another?

Nothing like equal treatment under the law.

Really? You need to explain with more than a seven word talking point. I'll wait for the rest, but from what I have seen so far, this bill may be in trouble.

Good idea. Soft landings work best. :-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

This should be called the middle class death tax bill. It increases nursing home care net cost by ~20% by removing the medical expense deduction.

Not sure how swelling the high cost Medicaid ranks with this and cutting Medicaid by a trillion dollars in the budget is going to play out.

This also will impact a lot of middle income people whose health insurance premiums cross the 10% line.

Anyone know when this would cut in? As my parents POA this has a huge impact on their budget as we go negative every month til tax refund time since basically 95% of their budget is qualified medical expenses.

25% starts at $90,000 for couples, $45,000 for individuals


This alone will crush the middle class. I'm single and make about 60k ish a year. I really can't afford to live in Philly taking a hit like that, the 4.5% wage tax and 8% sales tax is bad enough. Guess I'll just job down and work more on the side for cash then, I have plenty of that kind of work available if I want it.

If any of you are building your life around a tax credit or deduction you are just stupid and will have to adjust.

I say crush all the sacred cows, from mortgage interest to property taxes to charitable deductions even IRA/401K. I participate in all of these but you can't get reform unless you simplify.

The goal of the tax code is to provide revenues to the treasury and not for every one's pet project.

Doesn't 25% start at $37K now?

The goal of the tax code is to provide revenues to the treasury and not for every one's pet project.

The goal of the tax code was originally to provide revenues to the treasury but now it's for every one's pet project and to satisfy the special interest groups lobbying on behalf of wealthy individuals and their corporations.

FIFY

Middle class has a much higher tax rate then 25% when you factor social security (6.2%) and medicare (1.45%). Add state and local and if you make $125,000 (limit where SS tax roughly stops) your effective tax rate soup to nuts is probably closer to 35% or higher in some high tax states.

Middle class or someone single making $60k in Philadelphia is screwed under any tax plan. You are in the worst income range, where SS tax and medicare tax account for 10%+ of your income. And the sad thing is you will probably get some type of reduced benefit or delayed benefit to SS if you are under 40.

Wanna borrow some of my body armor, buddy? You're gonna need it. ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

I say bull. Changing the mortgage deduction from $1.0 million to $500,000 will not impact your decision or the real estate market. Figure at most you lose $500,000 at 3.5% rate or $17,500, roughly $5,000 of tax savings. If you have a $1.0 million mortgage, you are probably in a fairly high bracket or should be in a fairly high bracket and the $5,000 will not move the dial in the housing market.

Good idea. Hard landings work best. ;-) ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

100% agree. The tax code should not impact how your allocate capital. Should you really get a mortgage deduction as an incentive to buy a bigger house than you can afford?

I have many clients who donate each year and could care less what tax bracket they are in. Losing the charitable deduction would not change their behavior. Their decision to gift is driven by their balance sheet not their bracket.

Yeah, well, I don't need it. I am so sick of everyone whining and complaining, everyone wants the govt to reform, but not if it goes after their personal goodies or if they don't benefit. So sick of it. Trumps plan is 1000 times better then the monstrosity of a tax code we have today. I was on a flight last night from PHL to BNA and a woman and I talked...she live in NJ and pays $30K in property taxes, on a similar priced home here in Nashville one would pay 25% of that number, their schools are not 4X better - no way she should get to deduct that much from her Federal taxes; I told her NJ ought to get their shit together and fund things differently.

A few years back, I had a down year in sales, still made over 100K...after I deducted all the goodies, my effective tax rate was 2%...it was simply ridiculous and I remember starting a thread here in the LR. And this year a much better year, my effective tax rate will be about 25-28% with all the same expenses. The tax code if an effing joke. Meanwhile, half the country pays nothing and yet many of those folks expect a freaking cut with they pay nothing or next to nothing and whine about those footing the bill getting more...