While some may look for “loopholes” in the historic tax reform legislation signed into law by President Donald J. Trump, others look for those that have been closed. For me the biggest loophole that has been closed is the deduction of state and local taxes. For too long the federal government has subsidized states and localities that have chosen to tax their citizens. Perhaps when this deduction was introduced, state and local taxes were reasonable, but over time the states and localities have taken advantage of this subsidy and increased taxes knowing that the federal government will fit the bill. Well, those days are over, as the federal government will no longer high tax state and locality taxpayers to deduct those taxes. Perhaps this reform will force states and localities to reconsider how much they tax their citizens. The federal tax reform signed into law by President Donald J. Trump may lead to tax reform at the state and local levels. Tax reform at all levels would be good. Although some may say this would affect sates like Tennessee, that these states would not receive federal money, but that’s wrong as there will be more money to go around because the federal government will no longer be paying back the high state states. I support the tax reforms signed into law by President Donald J. Trump. Americans elected him to do just juts that, to reduce the tax burden long imposed upon hard working Americans who play by the rules. Thank you, President Trump, thank you.
2
The people who cannot see through Trump's con game are among those who will suffer in the long term the most from this trash heap of legislation. It is a pathetic mix of tax giveaways to the wealthiest 0.1% (the owners of the GOP) mixed with a few scattered throwaways to convince the working man he will be a winner. Every economist who knows anything about the US economy is horrified by the lack of forethought and intelligence that this mish-mash of last minute attempts please the Kochs, Mercers, Murdochs and other corporate billionaires while winning over a few cowardly Republican senators. Complex? ..yes, s complex as an urban garbage dump. These Republicans have no shame or decency.
3
Net sum of this bill: the rich will increase the rate at which they increase their share of total American assets. By the year 2042 the upper 0.1% will control 90% of all American wealth...moved up from 2054. BY the 2030s we will have a Russian-style oligarchy....all you have to do is see which direction the money is moving...and now there will LOTS more moving from everyone else into the coffers of the super rich....that's been the GOP plan all along.
3
Nice article illustrating some of the "entitlement" programs provided to corporations, the prime users of the nation's infrastructure and resources to begin with. Just so you know, I drink coffee that is made from beans that are roasted off-site, so I think I am entitled to something, too. OK, it may be too late for that, but I will be eager to see what goodies are in the new law.
What I'm really dying to see (hopefully not literally) are the planned cuts to Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, and other social programs that Ryan & Co. will claim are needed to finance the tax bill. I hope the details are unmasked before the 2018 elections because that is the part that will really hurt the middle and lower income classes.
1
...And in the mean time, regular ol Joe and Jane filer will not get a doubling of the Standard Deduction (an assertion that has been touted by media- including the NYT).
The current Standard Deductions are: $6,350 for single filers;$ 9,350 for Head-of-Household and $12,700 for Married-filing-jointly. The GOP tax bill takes away $700.00 from each category by "rounding down" to $12,000; $18,000 and $24,000 respectively.
The current article is only *helpful* to most of us by revealing America will never have an equal playing field: We have Business and its tax rules and Judicial system and then the rest of us.
1
"In the end, a federal judge ruled against the government. Mr. Maguire has been claiming the deduction ever since. It has saved the company over $5 million. 'This was a fun lesson to teach the I.R.S.,' he said, with conviction."
Conviction maybe, but the teaching itself is badly misplaced. The I.R.S. isn't responsible for bad/leaky tax law. No, that would be the Congress that wrote/passed the legislation, and the President who signed it into life. The I.R.S. is responsible for administration of tax law and for collecting money.
4
You always got time to do things right the first time. Wish the GOP would try that. The bill is a mess.
Will someone explain how this monstrosity will be implemented in one year? Doesn't the IRS have to promulgate regulations implementing the new provisions, which triggers a notice and comment period under the Administrative Procedure Act? Or do we now have an emperor? I think it is criminal that news outlets are reporting the boldface lies the Republicans are telling--that folks are going to see more money next month. Please do reporting describing how legislation is implemented through regulation or official guidance. We are so losing our democratic process.
3
It's pretty straightforward unless your diving for loopholes. And it's a whole lot easier then that ACA "monstrosity".
1
The only solution is to just tax every corporation doing business in the US based on total global profits times the portion of sales within the US. No deductions or loopholes. PERIOD.
1
The new US tax system is one giant loophole, designed to keep the richest among us from paying their fair share and which will starve the government of income tax money.
3
The big news about taxes is that IRS funding has been cut, reducing the chance that tax loopholes -- even gashes -- will be detected and pursued. For those of us with simple tax returns supported up by tax forms like W-2 and 1040, there's no escaping taxes. It's those who already have millions or billions in income that the tax avoidance if not evasion begins.
3
When I go to the club tonight I'll ask my business friends what tax loopholes their accountants have found and then tomorrow morning I'll call my
CPA and tell him what I heard. He will find the loopholes for me and me and my buddies will gather at the club one day this May and laugh about how stupid Trump is.
4
I want the things that paying taxes provides, like infrastructure, healthcare, and how about non monopolistic regional internet providers. Maybe we could get some speeds more like other developed countries if it weren't just for profit.
I don't want the tax cut.
Now we can see who the real "takers" are.
11
Carried interest provision is a nothing burger. One big loophole that makes the entire provision null. Does not apply if the owner of the carried interest is a "corporation" which includes an S corporation taxed as a pass through....and of course exempts President Trump from that provision...
1
As Trump would tweet: SAD!! Working people don't have lawyers dedicated to bending our tax code to get them unfair deductions. And corporations wonder why people hate them.
5
Trump... a millionaire that was about to lose everything when he declared bankruptcy... rescued by creditors... who declared he avoided to pay taxes because he was smart enough to take advantage of the system.
Who is surprised of his Tax Bill full of loopholes.
This is very Trump... as well as the institutionalization of lying and the reward for incompetency.
6
The answer to this problem will only come when a majority of Americans are willing to trade all deductions for low flat tax rates with no deductions and no exemptions - just like the property taxes we pay to state and local governments. All of the complex federal income tax rules are a front that allows corruption in Washington to thrive through granting of special exemptions and privileges in exchange for campaign cash and other emoluments. Thus result is a tax code that is so complex and unenforceable that we have a least half a trillion in uncollected revenue from tax evasion each year.
Ted Cruz proposed a flat tax in the 2016 campaign and nearly won the Republican nomination, so maybe there is hope that Americans will eventually figure this out.
2
No deductions, no exemptions... AND... all income is treated the same, i.e., wages, interest, dividends, capital gains, etc. are all taxed at the same rate.
These problems, and a few others, are easily solved: stop tweaking the rules every fifteen minutes in order to gain political favor or satisfy a political debt.
2
I'm hoping the GOP will lose control of the house and senate so that this hastily-prepared and non-democratic tax law is rightfully repealed by the Democratic president that follows.
6
Democratic President - check
Democratic House - check
Democratic Senate - check
Fight off the lobbyists - check
No Democrat sellouts in House - check
No Democrat sellouts in Senate - check
Done through reconciliation - check
Backlash against Democrats for raising taxes - check
Odds on repeal - Zero
Odds on Democrats extending tax cuts after sunset - One hundred percent
1
Together with ObamaCare?
2
A lead line without a story.
Recapping past loop holes without mentioning any in the current bill? Guilt by association? The pass through MAY BE a loop hole!! Extra Extra.
A loop hole may exist! Stop the presses, lets find one and talk about old ones.
Nothing here but Trump hate.
2
Corporations are not people. They are a legal fiction allowing people and entities to combine their tangible capital (plant and equipment, cash) and intangible capital (education, talent) for the purpose of growing tangible capital.
Since the entire purpose of a corporation has to do with capital growth and nothing to do with contributing to community wealth or values, the entity, as opposed to the people who make it up, have no claim to freedom of speech nor most other civil rights (e.g., the right to vote).
This dumpster-full excuse for tax bill is the perfect illustration of what happens when we lose sight of the fundamental truth about the nature of a corporation.
6
Corporations grow tangible and intangible capital. A trade name may be worth more than the capital assets. In San Francisco, the guest list sold for more than the hotel itself.
Henry Ford thought increase in community wealth through increased wages to his employees would increase auto sales which it did.
Corporations are not just owned by the rich.
Pension plans own shares in corporations.
1
republicans - the party of avarice and abject failure for the American people.
4
I need to commercialize my person and quick.
4
Just about all of the Republican politicians in Congress are millionaires and this tax bill they passed is going to put a bunch of money in their pockets, not to mention their donors' pockets and big business as well. That is why they were to intense and eager to get the bill passed in secret and as rapidly as possible before average dumb Americans could realize what was going to happen to them.
So go ahead, keep putting Republicans in office. Like someone once said, nobody ever lost money underestimating the intelligence level of the average American.
7
Republicans are now salivating to cut Medicare, Medicaid, SS and food stamps. Soon the United States will be a third world country.
13
Are we supposed to be surprised by this?
2
You can make a conservative believe anything:
1. Early 2000s: deficits don't matter (Cheney's famous statement).
2. Early 2010s: deficits and debt are the biggest threats to our future.
3. Late 2010s: deficits and debt don't matter again.
Guess what happens when Democrat is elected in 2020?
7
And every one of those loopholes was put there deliberately to benefit someone.
7
Ok, straighten me out here. The reason the Repubs say that we need to have Capital gains and dividend tax rates less than income tax rates is that there is double taxation for the former. Now that corporate tax rates have been reduced by 15 points it seems that cap gains and dividend tax rates should go up by 15 points. That's what the Democrats should campaign on. After all, the Republican's motto is 'work is for suckers.'
5
SHame that Trump's base won't know what hit them (or didn't hit them) until after the mid-terms, when their first tax returns under the new bill are due.
3
How can paycheck Americans fool the tax man and game the system? They can't, except by working extra hours mowing lawns, cleaning houses, selling firewood, babysitting, etc. and taking their pay under the table. Not much money to be made that way but you can bet more working people will be doing it than already are because if the big boys can play the system, so can they. Republicans set out years ago to make "tax" a dirty word and a form of theft instead of a citizen's patriotic duty. Pretty soon tax evasion will be so wide and deep an underfunded, toothless IRS won't be able to collect a fraction of taxes owed and a once-great nation will fall into disrepair and dissolution.
12
Perhaps people would be more willing to allow their incomes and wealth to be taken by diktat if the money wasn't squandered (MTA waste like $35/hr electricians), used to socially engineer redistribution (Obamacare) or given to a workforce that is paid twice as much as civilian workers. Infrastructure spending might be palatable if it didn't include $50,000 pothole fillers. Military spending might be more acceptable if reenlisting didn't mean pay and benefits equal to $60,000 for a Navy truck driver in Virginia Beach. Public safety would be a better investment if cops and firefighters were $25/month conscripts.
2
Tax Bill.
Trump's trickle down economics will not work from his trickle down stupidity
3
Now that Trump has stuck it to the blue states with this self-serving tax bill, NYC or NY State should return the favor by creating a special tax district containing just Trump Tower, then taxing the "heck" out of it. At least Trump won't be able to deduct those taxes against his Federal taxes either.
14
Not to worry. Most hedge fund managers live around NYC, Chicago, LA, SF on multimillion dollar estates. Under the new tax plan the most they can deduct for State/local/Real Estate taxes is $10,000 rather then the millions at present. That explains at least some of the loudest howls here, but it'll get worse. Sanctuary Citiy/State will explode their tax bases. Guess there really is a pony in this pile after all.
4
I'm pretty sure currently there is a $20K cap on the deduction allowed for real estate tax.
It's rather pathetic that a major tax bill was passed by one party, and the American people and most of the legislators who voted for it, have little idea what it contains, or whether they will be hurt or helped, even if temporarily by its shady implementation. Welcome to your new Banana Republic where the rule of law is always for sale, and your leader, Trump, will personally profit in perhaps the most corrupt display ever demonstrated by an American president. The sheer contempt of the Trump Administration and its quaking-knees Republican praise-the-naked-emperor Congress for the democracy so many died for and worked so hard to built will lead to their defeat. Americans want health care for all, good education for all, pensions for all, a protected environment, updated infrastructure including affordable, equitable internet for all, a path to citizenship for immigrants and their families based on their status as law-abiding people, justice for all, great salaries and less income inequality, more diplomacy and less military intervention, and fair, not Trump-corrupted taxation. In fact, most Americans want nothing the Trump Administration stands for or rams down our throats. 2018--leave not one seat in Republican hands. Turn the house and the Senate.
2
These comparisons cover just beyond the average income brackets for most American:
Old Vs. New Tax Brackets for Single Filers
Old bracket New Bracket
Taxable Income Tax Rate Taxable Income Tax Rate
$0-$9,525 10% $0-9,525 10%
$9,526-$38,700 15% $9,526-$38,700 12%
$38,701-$93,700 25% $38,701-$82,500 22%
$93,701-$195,450 28% $82,501-$157,500 24%
Old Vs. New Tax Brackets For Married Filing Jointly
Old brackets New brackets
Taxable Income Tax Rate Taxable Income Tax Rate
$0-$19,050 10% $0-$19,050 10%
$19,051-$77,400 15% $19,051-$77,400 12%
$77,401-$156,150 25% $77,401-$165,000 22%
$156,151-$$237,950 26% $165,001-$315,000 24%
These are the lower brackets. The top bracket has moved down from 39.6% for both singles and joint files to 37%. If you make more than the cited rates, take a look at "How Tax Reform Impacts Your Tax Bracket And Rate" (https://www.investors.com/etfs-and-funds/personal-finance/how-tax-reform....
2
The real title of the new tax law: Tax Lawyers and Accountants Full Employment Act of 2017.
3
Ah, let the games begin!!!
This act should have been called the Billionaires' and Multimillionaires' Grab Bag and Tax Schemers' Billable Hours Bonanza Corporate Welfare Act of 2017.
As the wild and crazy unintended consequences, the fully intended dwindling revenues and the planned soaring deficits commence, be sure to stay focused on who benefits (hint, billionaires, multimillionaires and corporations) because the GOP will just use the problems, the debt and the low revenues to come after Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and all other domestic spending.
Remember this on election day in 2018.
3
Deficits don’t matter! There is such a thing as a free lunch! What goes up can’t come down! Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we will do it again! The entire GOP agenda is built on denial of the basic economic principles that kept us going from the end of WWII until the Great Recession, which will look mild compared to the bust now heading our way.
3
Don't blame both parties for the hyper-partisanship, blame the Republicans. How can you compromise with people who insist on outlawing abortion, even though most of the country don't want them to. I supported President Obama; but I hated it when he said "congress" was holding things back, not the Republicans in congress.
Why can't Democrats say to the Trump's downtrodden supporters, "Obama tried to help you; but at every turn the R's said "not if it adds to the deficit.". Two examples: The stimulus was too small. Also when Obama tried a push on infrastructure, the Republicans would't budge, supposedly because of the deficit.
6
Americans wake up! According to the CBO (non partisan Congressional Budget Office) this tax reduction will increase the federal deficit by
1,455 billion dollars over the next ten years. Essentially 1.5 trillion dollars. Hardly a tax reduction but rather a loan from crafty politicians that eventually must be repaid by our children and their children. Why during a period of essentially full employment and high corporate profits are we reducing taxes? Unfortunately headline news touts the tax reductions we will receive and not the CBO evaluation of the reduction. At what point do Democrats & Republicans demand fiscal responsibility from their political leaders?
5
Our new tax bill is a perfect example of a government run amuck. Desperate to please big donors, such as the Koch brothers, the Republican houses crammed a tax bill that few have read and even fewer understand down our throats. They made no attempt to hide the pandering to special interests that was being handed out by the billions of dollars. Real estate moguls such as our president and his family will benefit, as he himself would say, biggley.
The Republicans have no shame. They are trying to sell this bill with a straight face, claiming that it is a middle class tax cut. Meanwhile, they are laughing all the way to the bank. Trump and his congress have their win while the American people are going to take it on the chin.
Republicans take notice! The wave is coming and I look forward to riding it victory in November.
3
a free for all business tax Haven at the sweat, blood and guts of the middle class.
2
This is how kleptocracy works. No surprise. Expect
more of the same in the next three years or longer
unless democrats change their stripes.
3
Bottom line---According to the Tax Policy Center's analysis, and not even hiding what they were doing with this tax bill, Republicans showered the rich with riches.
During the first year, the top 1 % of the wealthiest taxpayers get 20.5 % of the benefits, but by 2027, they'll get an alarming 82.8 %.
Here's what top legal scholars say, and the link:
"These haphazard lines are fundamentally unfair and inefficient, and invite tax planning by sophisticated taxpayers to get within the preferred categories.
It’s a substantial blow to the basic integrity of the income tax."
"...In several cases, as we describe, forward-leaning IRS action will be key
to stanch the bleeding—however, such action will require leadership from the Trump administration--and will be hindered by the years of budget cuts that have hit the IRS..."
https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=2570840680820950741110200690...
To get it passed conservatives assured the public that the tax bill will not exceed 1.5 trillion of borrowing over 10 years. What if it does exceed that amount? Does it make the law void?
3
"this was a fun lesson to teach the IRS" Mr. McGuire says. But it should be that it's a lesson Congress should be learning - the hapless IRS simply tries to enforce the mess Congress sometimes (often?) makes with tax law.
I think all companies basically sells stuff with value by creating the system to sell things and services so everyone is basically a manufacturer. They were right to seek those loopholes. And as we all know, no one wants to pay taxes since government is inefficiently run. No one in government organizations even want to pay taxes even though their jobs depend on it. They should think of tax cuts as their own pay cuts since they're more desperate to ask for donations from the rich with less tax revenue. And everyone will try to get a loop hole so it will be a tax cut. If less taxes led to more volunteers doing stuff for others without any pay, it might be good. Too bad people sell and buy most things and services and there's a cost to simply existing in this world. Unless we get rid of money we will always have inequality so I'll try to deal with it. And we won't get rid of money unless we stop putting values on things and wanting to be better off than others.
1
The criminalization of poverty, misfortune, and sickness proceeds apace. Your hardworking stiff without a living wage working 2 or 3 jobs without overtime can't catch a break.
Those laughing all the way to the bank aren't going to create good jobs, they're too busy skimming the cream.
It's a win-win for Republicans, who are eager to raid the kitty and loot the savings you put into Social Security and Medicare. That's your money, but they call it entitlements.
That's because they feel entitled to take it from you, to feather their nest.
They've got voter suppression, intimidation, gerrymandering, and other forms of cheating on their side, and they've been stuffing local authorities, courts, and pulpits with their bought and paid for helpers.
Working together to help each other and solve problems? That's the dreaded "socialism". They'd rather take pennies from the poor, via regressive fees and sales taxes (and value added taxes are just sales taxes in disguise) etc. which fall hardest on the poor
Want to fix Social Security? Make it a true flat tax on all income and lower it. Now it's only charged on the income people need to get by, not on the excess people don't need to get by.
Disgusting: Making America Small and Mean, Making America Last.
18
There is an article in The Guardian today that enumerates how private prison giant corporations will get a massive tax benefit because most of them have restructured themselves as real estate investment trusts, and will see their tax rate drop from 39.6% to 29.6% (25% lower), leading to a $50M increase in dividend distribution.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/28/private-prisons-investor...
"Even without the new lower tax rate, the reit classification was already a huge boon to the private prison industry. Before converting to a reit in 2013, Corecivic was subject to a 36% corporate tax rate. After the reorganization, it reported paying an effective tax rate in the first quarter of 2015 of just 3%.
Lauren-Brooke Eisen, an attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice, said: “The way they are able to get away with that, is that they’re not allowed to keep a lot of cash on hand, they have to give it back to investors though dividends. But it allows them to have an incredibly low tax rate.”
According to Eisen, prison companies have essentially argued that renting out cells to the government is the equivalent of charging a tenant rent, thus making such business primarily a real estate venture."
MAGA eh, Donald?
12
It will be MAGA is trump gets to see this new REIT from the inside out.
3
The reality is the tax code itself should be rewritten with the focus on simplification. The current tax bill was a gift to the wealthy and to accountants - - no criticism of accountants since their job is to maximize benefits for their clients - - based on political expediency rather than sound governance or sound tax policy.
9
The example of the 2004 law is a good one, and with all the incorporation, reorganization into pass-through entities, and other shenanigans that will occur, the 3.3X ratio of actual to projected cost seen in that case is likely to be reasonably close to what happens in this one. That would bring the bill our children and grandchildren will be handed to $5 trillion, with the extra $3.5 trillion further padding the pockets of the wealthiest. That doesn't make me sleep better at night.
5
I realized last night that Montgomery County, MD, issues a three year step-up assessment (or at least something akin to that). I wonder if this isn't assessment enough to meet the letter of the law. At least, I am using that logic to submit the 2018 payment.
It will be very interesting to see if the people in Congress who made this mess will be worried enough about angry voters in 2018 to pass an amendment to undo the damage they just created.
3
Former Treasury Secretary, Larry Summers, estimated that of the 13 million Americans who will be left without healthcare insurance due to rollback of ACA mandatory insurance, 10,000 Americans will die prematurely annually. A fact that brings joy to Trump, Ryan & McConnell.
17
Of course, none of those conservative estimates of the 1.5 trillion dollar added to the deficit over 10 yrs includes the full exploitation of the new loopholes created by this " beautiful tax reform". Our corporation's accountants are hard a work finding our loopholes now. So that 1.5 trillion deficit estimate will grow rapidly over the next 1-2 yrs and surely it will be democrats and Obama's fault for the impending fiscal disaster the republicans have created . With over 4 MILLION unfilled STEM related jobs already available, wouldn't it have made more sense to give incentives to train and fill these good paying jobs rather than gamble 1.5 trillion +dollars-- that the rich and corporations would eventually create more Walmart and McDonald's or Chic fil a jobs?
13
The biggest “loophole” to date is being exploited by upper-income, blue state citizens rushing to prepay the property taxes on their pricey homes (a strategy which the IRS just advised it may not allow).
Now if hypocrisy was deductible, they’d all get a big tax break. Yuge.
4
Loop hole!? Our taxes are going UP with this "big beautiful tax cut." We are middle income. Our property taxes alone are $12,500. Both our incomes are taxed in NJ on top of that, yet our deduction is limited to $10k, whether married or single. So we are being taxed on our taxes. How is that Republican?
The estate tax deduction is $11 million for singles and doubles to $22 million for a couple. Is a parent seriously going to leave their son- or daughter-in-law an extra $11million? No. It just lets the wealthy double what they leave their own child. If they were so concerned about farm families, they could have made a provision just for farms.
And before you trash talk NJ, consider that we are one of 17 states that give the Federal government more than we receive.
Sure, what with there being no pricey homes in Florida and all.
1
The 2015 median household income in the USA was $56,516, per the Census Bureau. That's total household income. That's true middle income. Generally speaking, these folks don't live in houses with property taxes anywhere near $10,000, much less $12,500.
Estate tax? Why shouldn't someone be able to leave their entire estate to their children? It's their money! Not yours, not mine, and certainly not the government's.
As for NJ, I grew up there...then voted with my feet. The temps are high and the taxes are low. C'mon down.
1
World’s Wealthiest 500 Got Nearly $1 Trillion Richer In 2017: Bloomberg. How about you?
7
“ The price of civilizations”, not very costly for the 1 percenters. They exploit the mases, destroy the environment and game the tax system with the help of the government. Clearly this is not sustainable and will eventually destroy itself.
13
So where we're heading exactly for bigger, and if it's even possible more cynical income inequality that would equate us successfully to banana republic status, more Dictatorship, more oppression for majority and submission to very few rich people who bought this whole system of Government...the few are not the smartest if this is the game they play...they have no vision, no aspirations, no understanding of what lies ahead, how any country can turn on a dime in a very bad direction, no knowledge of History of the World, and no desire to preserve significant strides that was made in a name of Progress.
Actually all very tragic.
10
Written in the dark of night, behind closed doors. In the light of day, we will see the middle class was not even considered when the lobbyists put their heads together. Highway robbery by the Republicans.
13
BC - you re correct and another thing; If you are a married couple both over 65 years of age you get an additional deduction of $1,250/person or $2,500 per couple. This is going away as well. So while the republicans bray about DOUBLING the standard deductions they do not tell you that other changes they are making pretty much wipe the impact of that doubling out! Typical republican bait and switch lying!
10
And, don't forget, that if both are blind there is an additional deduction of $1,250.00 each. In other words, as a recent tax lecturer often says, 'the perfect couple'
Wasn't this the intent so the rich and corporations can achieve higher than expected tax savings. The recent tax cut is a scam on the middle class.
7
This is the whole game right here. Big donors pay for favorable tax breaks. Smaller donors pay for favorable interpretations on tax regulations as written. Both parties do it but Republicans have built their entire party upon this slimy rock. The GOP NEEDS the churn: this new tax law will bring money to their party coffers for a decade; then they will write a new law and start the noisy, belching machine up again.
But let's be honest here: Has there ever been a less "populist" major law than the 2017 tax law? Is there anything the Republicans could have done right now that would result in a steeper income inequality vector? Is there anything more "establishment Republican" than this new tax law? No, there is not. But the Republican base doesn't see it.
12
Are the tax lawyers smarter than the GOP politicians that wrote the new tax laws? Why didn't the GOP get the high-powered tax consultants to plug the loop holes in the first place?
Reminds me the time, before the Obamacare was passed, a doctor friend telling me, 'Obamacare won't pass'. Asked why, he simply said, 'all the doctors are against it'. When I asked if there aren't doctors who are democrats, he said, 'all the rich ones are republican; only the poor ones are democrats'!
2
Real life example of how Trumps plan and the current tax system benefit the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
In 2016 Warren Buffet had income of $19M and paid a federal tax rate of 17%. Under the new tax plan just passed, his tax bill will be reduced by another $600K producing a federal tax rate of 13.3%.
How many of you out there are paying 13.3% in federal taxes? We have a tax system where the middle class pay a significantly higher percentage of their income in taxes simply because they cant afford to make million dollar campaign contributions to the politicians who create the system and loop holes that allow this to happen.
If this does not make you mad, nothing will.
12
"In 2016 Warren Buffet had income of $19M and paid a federal tax rate of 17%."
Was the $19M in salary, capital gains, interest or what?
Is $3.23M in taxes not enough for you?
1
You have completely missed the point. 13.3% is not enough when the middle class pay twice this amount.
2
What middle class person paid $6M in taxes?
1
This is all due to the courts failing to protect our "equal protection under the law" from corrupted politicians. The more tax law there is, the less fair the tax laws are. A flat rate on all transfers of wealth would be fair and equal protection. All others are special rates for special people and thus do not apply to all, hence should be deemed unconstitutional. But then the People are ignorant and think they get "breaks" (small ones for the people, large ones for the rich who control our government as the donor class) and care not that their "representatives" have been fleecing them for 100 years now.
3
could potentially......but probably not. end of story
1
Rather than a stream of partisan propaganda, this is an area where the NYT could be of public service. The Times could actively engage with finance, accounting, and tax experts to identify specific loopholes (really these are exemptions that Congress incorporated under last minute pressures or failed to fully evaluate their unintended consequences) AND propose the specific fixes (amendments) to the tax law that would eliminate or minimize unfair taxes.
6
Capping the mortgage deduction at $10k is dumb. Not grandfathering existing mortgages is dumber still. Punishing teachers by disallowing tax deductions for out of pocket expenses is mean.
4
Michael Hiltzik in the LA Times wrote about the possible unconstitutionality of reducing or eliminating the right to deduct state and local tax before federal taxation. I keep posting in case somebody in Congress will look at it.
""At the time of his [Daniel Moynihan] speech, the state and local tax deduction was under attack by the Reagan administration, which like today's GOP, was looking for ways to pay for a tax cut for the rich. Moynihan labeled the idea "a profound constitutional error."
Moynihan drew his argument from the principle of federalism enshrined in the Constitution, the essence of which is that "there are arenas of government that must not be invaded by other governments." He observed that the notion that this applied to taxation had been understood dating back to the origins of the federal income tax, enacted under Abraham Lincoln to finance the Civil War.
The Revenue Act of 1862, Moynihan noted, provided that federal tax liability was to be calculated only after state and local taxes were first deducted, "and this under the most pressing emergency conditions ever faced by our country." The deduction was enshrined in the Revenue Act of 1913, which created the modern federal income tax.""
http://beta.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-salt-deduction-20...
1
Are you opposed to this bill? Are you opposed to what The Con Don and his Robber Baron/pretend christian brethren are doing to OUR environment and OUR human/social/economic rights?
The weekend of January 20/21 is National Protest Weekend. A Women's March 2018 is scheduled for Saturday, January 20 and events are planned across America for January 21. Mark your calendar and get out there. We need 300 MILLION people acting in unison to protest this corrupt regime.
NOW is the time.
Here are some links to information:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/WomensMarch2018USA/events/
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/28/1728028/-CUA-Events-Women-s-...
5
I DID NOT KILL the most EXISTING, MOST OBSCENE. LOOPHOLE :
THE CARRIED INTEREST DEDUCTION
That lets Billionaire Hedge Fund managers on Wall Street pay Federal Income tax at the capital gains rate 20% rather than 37% .
Trump wowed to kill it but couldn't because too many Republican Senators protected it. But is NOT just Republicans that defend it. From the NY TImes
"It’s not just Republicans who have kept it alive. Senator CHUCK SCHUMER Democrat of New York, has voted to change the law. But he has long opposed any overhaul that singled out his wealthy Wall Street constituents and donors when other types of investment partnerships — oil and gas, real estate, timber — also benefit from the lower “carried interest” tax."
And indeed Schumer did. After the house voted to eliminate it in 2010, Schumer killed it in the Senate.
Nothing indicates more how corrupt the US election system is than the inability of legislators to do away with the most, obscene, most outrages tax brake for billionaires - simply because they depend on the campaign contributions of the Uber Rich.
Source of quote
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/business/with-trump-as-foe-carried-in...
7
You're actually trying to use Chuck Schumer's saying that we do away with it for all, or for none, in an article detailing Trump's crookery and RepublicN cheating as evidence against....Democrats.
Conservative mantra has always been to lower the rates AND broaden the base by closing loopholes.
Seems only rates were lowered. Only half the job was done.
Democrats are always criticized for never saying what they are for, only what they are against.
Democrats should run on a platform of promising to finish the job the GOP ailed to do on taxes; close the corporate loop holes while restoring deductions and exemptions for individuals.
2
In any tax cut bill written by a majority of the rich in Congress, there are going to be plenty of sneaky loopholes. This latest is no exception. Just remember that those folks have taken away two main benefits for the middle class which are the Personal Exemptions and some of the items in the Itemized Deductions.
Just remember that in 2019 when you prepare your 2018 Federal Individual Income Tax return, you very well may see an increase in your taxes due the I.R.S. Be sure to "thank" the republicans who wrote and passed this tax bill.
4
I am a high-income self-employed scientist living in NY, and I'm going to be paying a ton more because of this tax bill because I am in one of the professions specifically disallowed from taking the full pass-through deduction.
I don't want to spend the time or the money on dodging taxes. I was completely fine paying my taxes before, even though I was paying very close to the highest rates possible, given that most of my income comes from labor instead of investments, self-employment tax, few deductions, etc. And of course my insurance is completely unsubsidized.
But trust me, this year I'm going to be spending a lot of time with my accountant figuring out every single loophole and legal dodge possible to pay as little as possible. I deeply, profoundly resent the fact that my wallet is being raided to give giant tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and corporations already awash in cash.
22
It's remarkable how the facts are misstated.
Although the Standard Deduction is doubling there is never a mention that this bill eliminates the Personal and Dependency Exemptions which will create a tax increase for a family of four or greater.
By example:
At present the standard deduction for married filing jointly is $12,700 and the personal and dependency exemption is $4,050; for a family of four this is a total deduction of $28,900. Under this tax bill, the $12,700 is doubled [ignoring inflation adjustments] for a total $25,400 and the exemptions are ELIMINATED.
Result - The total deduction was reduced by $3,500 from $28,900 to $25,400.
12
In this tax bill, Republican donors were asked for their tax wish list, and then Republican congressmen went about raising other taxes to keep the resulting deficit increase to $1.5 Trillion over ten years. Absolutely nobody was looking out for abuses of loopholes; I'm sure our Republican congressmen would not be upset if their "reform" provided even more tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses than anticipated. If that would have bothered them, they would have had regular order and a good read of the language before the vote.
4
Who need loopholes when the whole bill is the equivalence of tax gerrymandering and redlining in a single stroke?
Loopholes only enhance the giveaway to those who can afford attorneys and accountants, more certainly not the working poor.
Or the Tea Party grannies. They were the foot soldiers for the Republicans when President Obama proposed the Grand Bargain. Their utility is over now. Time will tell if AARP is a sellout too when Paul Ryan tries to cut the two entitlement programs.
I actually feel sorry for those populist masses who voted for Trump and bought the Republican snake oil
6
I don’t feel the least bit sorry for those “low information “ voters who inflicted Trump on the country. I just wonder if they even realize all the different ways in which they chose a plutocrat and a kleptomaniac as president.
However I feel sorry for the rest of the country, particularly those vilified by the republicans for pointing out the truth.
I don’t know what it will finally take to bring down Trump and his gang of thieves. I can only hope that the Democrats win “bigly” in 2018.
6
I am no corporate tax expert but I am told that very few paid the previous rate. Many conservatives talk about the holy grail of a flat tax. The new corporate rate of 21% should have been a corporate flat tax. A corporation could file on a postcard. Instead, they kept most of the previous loopholes that Trump said he would close and even added a few more.
6
The word is that many of the corporate deductions that cut the effective rate to 20% under the old system still stand, so the new effective rate will be 10% or so.
This puts pressure on other countries to cut their rates.
I am not certain if this is true or not as some of the current allowable credits can only be taken to push your rate to a specific rate.
By example, the R&D credit can only be applied to bring your effective rate to 20% and not any lower.
Point being, this is just one loophole that guarantees that most companies are likely NOT paying the top rate. Thus this bill is built of Fake facts and will likely bankrupt our company. However, certain the Republican party will cut entitlements so they can fly in private jets.
The goal being to starve the beast of revenue, so GOP can begin slashing the public safety net as soon as possible. Fully evil.
Sure, I'll benefit, but millions will suffer for years under this woefully corrupt tax plan.
2
Cutting taxes is easy. Cutting wasteful defense spending is hard. Republicans like it easy.
When the GOP is out of power in a few years the Democrats will once again have to put all efforts into getting the ship of state back on course. Then when things return to an even keel the GOP pirates will return to power, and the cycle repeats.
Is there a way out? Perhaps. If Fox News goes bankrupt or, even less likely, decides to be something other than a GOP propaganda department, then people might recognize and repel the GOP pirates.
2
Simply put, this is the most corrupt act of Congress in history. No pretense of fairness or "normal business" it was ramrodded through lobbying and raw political power. For all their moralizing and paranoia the Republicans have abandoned the democracy that millions fought and died for over the past 230 years. Disgrace is a word that comes to mind, as does betrayal. Creeping fascism is the threat particularly when you couple this treasury heist with the attacks on justice from Trump, FOX News and the paid GOP minions. Money is their religion, hate is their mantra and corruption is their method.
18
They did every bad thing they accused others of doing, and a hundred times worse.
When will this preposterous enablement end?
5
Trump in his antidileuvean view along with cheesehead ryan (married to a girl from a nice Democratic family) A) desired retribution to Blue state suburban enclaves where Liberals dwell so it is they who will pay more taxes.(olde testament justice per Jared.) B) The Libertarian pin-headed view of Ryan wants NY to starve its people on the Dole since Ayn Rand and her sycaphant St. Paul say if I help yu, Im hurting you. This is monstrous and beneath contempt. And yet, the only recourse is to tell Trump hes fired in 2020 and to purge every congressional GOP cretin up for reelection in November.
8
A tax accountant or lawyer never met a loophole he did not like.
Can there ever be enough 'business' tax write-offs?
You know, jets, yachts, vacations, clothes, restaurant meals, third or fourth homes, parties/soirees, caterers, flowers, champagne/single malts, etc.
The average American has no idea how the rich live so differently.
One being their endless, binge, tax write-offs. I knew a rich person who wrote off bridge tolls and the socks and toothbrushes he purchased for his yacht crew members. And huge parties. Unbelievable.
7
Sure, lets leave the loop holes, you know, the ones that despite a stated corporate tax rate of 35%, allowed for an effective rate of 17% and in many cases 0%!
Or the loop holes for the uber wealthy, which allow someone to make millions yet pay 12% in federal taxes, while the rest of us pay 25%.
Thanks Mitch, Paul and Donald for a very merry Christmas.
7
Well at least they got rid of the carried interest provision. Oh wait, you mean they didn't?
4
The $64,00.00 dollar question to Mr Maguire is " how much of the monies from the tax deduction resulted in bigger raises to your workers?
7
So Mr.. McGuire brags about teaching the IRS a lesson. Unfortunately, the IRS is us. When taxes are not collected, and in this case actually paid out to a business entity, the rest of us lose. That is money which will not be available for military adventures which the GOP is adamant about sustaining in perpetuity. Then there's the problem of our infrastructure, assistance for schools, the poor, and other segments of society which are just as worthy as Mr McGuire's business. In short, when that money does not come in and is paid out to someone such as Mr Maguire, whose business seems to be doing well anyway, we are all losers. The money has to be made up somewhere, and if it's borrowed, it goes on to the national debt. Of course, everybody wants good schools, good roads, bridges, shiny jet fighter airplanes, etc etc, the problem I see with this country, is that we no longer want to pay for it.
2
At the very least, they should have lowered prices.
The US public doesn't understand how public spending creates revenue by multiplier effect. If it did, it would clamor for taxation and spending to be optimized, because the better it works, the more of your taxes come back to you as income. It's the closest thing to free lunch there is.
2
Another article, an example of lobbyists that write the legislation politicians use for their bills. And do you think the written language is going to benefit the companies the lobbyist represent. Not difficult to understand everything in D.C.is about money, and who benefits the most. Who gets the best tax break. The American taxpayer benefits the least.
3
Democrats need to communicate a better plan. We need guidance, not just complaints. A well-communicated strategy is the key to winning midterm election votes in November. Without this, the trajectory will not change and the GOP will thrive on the divisiveness, disorganization, and sense of helplessness of the average American.
4
I'm 101% sure that the Democrat millionaires in the Congress and Senate are not going to claim those loopholes under the tax bill. They will relinquish these savings as a badge of honour, and show that they are supporting the poor and middle class who will not benefit from these savings - NOT!
3
Words matter. A loophole is a legal way to take advantage of a law. No one should be accused of trying to keep more of their hard earned money. Isn’t this why people are hurrying to prepay property taxes? This is why people are not corporations.
If the new tax law intends for corporations to keep more money by lowering the corporate rate, other ways of keeping more should come as no surprise. It’s part of a broader plan to distribute less, not a loophole.
1
"That will all be moot with the latest tax bill. Congressional Republicans said the deduction was no longer necessary with the overall reduction of the corporate tax rate."
That's right, a lower tax rate that directly improves profit margins. Consumers will, rightly, demand price cuts for products. Otherwise, there is really no benefit for them.
DEMAND LOWER PRICES!
When a US resident pays tax to a foreign treaty country he gets a credit for tax paid abroad. But a Tax payer in NEW YORK doesn't even get a deduction in Federal taxes. Does it mean NY should have a "treaty" with US government so NY citizens can get a deduction or credit for taxes paid in NY. May be Congress will realize what it has done to NY (and other states) tax payers as compared to people who pay taxes to a foreign country. This aspect needs Editorials in our press.
4
This tax slashing for the very rich accomplishes at least two objectives- yuuuuuge beautiful handouts to the ultra-wealthy at the expense of everyone else and the deconstruction of our government through massive deficits to be followed by attacks on every program on the books. Steve Bannon lives and the evil Paul Ryan couldn't be happier. Losers: 99% of the American people.
5
The best loophole surrounds the fact that, apparently nobody, including the IRS, knows what's in the law. I called my tax lady with some questions and she told me she'd get back to me but to not sit by the phone. This is going to be so much fun!
3
@Matt
No, it's the first time in history that the tax laws have been changed to this extent with little or no debate or even reading of the bill except by the lobbyists who wrote it.
4
I support the tax reforms signed into law by President Trump; Americans voted for him for this reason. Thank you.
3
Perhaps you should have slightly reworded the first sentences to read “for President Trump” rather than “by” President Trump
13
No, I worded it correctly. Thank you.
1
Well, Southern Boy, your analysis is certainly compelling. I hadn't considered the idea that maybe the 46% of voters that elected Trump really did want to increase the national debt by $1.5 trillion in order to give more money to people that are already ridiculously wealthy.
I thought they were voting to drain the swamp. Silly me.
2
There has to come a point in this nation where we stop seeing taxes as punishment but rather for what they are, our civic duty and commitment to each other and to this nation. Taxes are what has kept this nation strong but since Reagan we have been getting weaker and weaker as foreigners have bought up over 47% of our debt and have been financing our nation for us because for some reason we could care less. Eventually those foreigners will stop funding our largest and when that happens god help us all because we will may finally realize that as a nation we are far less than what our leaders has projected.
2
There is simply not denying that this bill was passed in a very hurried and sloppy way, mainly because the GOP was at serious risk of forfeiting credibility if it didn't pass a tax bill.
The party that goes on an on about how inefficiently government does just about anything has, in its own legislation, give us an object lesson.
Shifting individual non deductible state and local taxes to deductible employer payroll taxes is said to be a possible way to claw back the US government shift of funds from blue to red states. Can we get commentary from Mario Cuomo is this is an option that NY state is considering and if so what issues could this bring up. Having the larger standard deduction and indirectly the SALT deduction would seem to be the best of both worlds
1
I had to stop right here in the article to comment.
"But lawmakers added language that allowed big real estate developers to benefit. The result could be a tax break for any company that buys and operates a building for its business."
Is there a more corrupt government we've ever had then the current Republican regime under the leadership of "big real estate developer" Donald Trump?
If his company made laundry detergent there would be a tax break for that.
Are you Trump people that easily fooled?
Have you lost all your common sense, intelligence and pride as Americans to these hucksters?
Work your way back to sanity OK?
18
So let me get this straight, the new tax law was written by lobbyists acting on behalf of special interests via our legislators. I am shocked, shocked!
1
No shocking to hear this considering that none of the people who enacted the law ever actually read it.
2
Trump and the GOP have declared war against the red states. North korea and iran are less a threat to our pocketbooks and safety net than republicans and red states, though russia colluded with trump and the republicans and putin is a bigger threat than ever.
A crook’s dream:
Get control of all the levers of power, and then “smash and grab”.
And you make the rules.
I’m sure the founding fathers would like a redo on the rules.
3
They didn't expect the US Constitution to last 20 years.
How about making a list of loop holes so that everyone can enjoy them.
2
83% of this bill is designed to benefit the top 1/10 of 1%.
If you fit into that group, your lawyers and accountants will find them. If not, you don't qualify.
2
I am a manufacturer because to manufacture a sentence, in fact this very sentence, I assembled two or more articles.
6
Republican Voters:
Unless you are mega-rich, the Republicans don't want anything to do with you. They DO NOT care about you. When are you going to get that through your heads? Name one thing they have done that helps the middle class or lower. They have done nothing! Are you blind? Can't you see this in the latest tax scam?
6
By now republicans understand very well how democrats feel about them, especially if they're white males, Christians, pro-life, make too much to receive Medicaid or an ACA subsidy, etc.
The republicans' new child tax credit, alone, does more for families than all Pelosi's and Schumer's rhetoric combined.
Talk is cheap. Tax credits are valuable.
1
So Republicans are voting against their own self interests and their own children's future...all because they think Democrats don't like them?
By definition anyone who supports Trump and this GOP tax bill are in defiance of the teachings of Christ. They are as much Christians as draft-dodger Trump is a war hero.
2
The Congressional Budget Office said that the biggest reason for growing government debt after 2001 was the tax cuts to the wealthy.
3
And who invested in all that sub-prime debt that went bust in 2008?
The rich beneficiaries of Bush's tax cuts.
2
The disgusting inhumane Republicans have shown that they simply don't care for the "average" American. What's even worse if the vulturous accountants (from both parties) who will "mine" the tax bill, and squeeze every cent that they can to save their clients ANY money that they can!
I don't know who is hated most - Trump and the Republicans or the accounts who don't care who they represent, so long as they save their clients money, and of course make their money!
I'm also quite sure that the Democrat millionaires in the Senate and Congress will also make sure THEIR accountants save them money from the new tax bill. Why would they do otherwise!
* More than 50% of Congressional representatives are millionaires, while about 66% of all senators are millionaires - the hypocrisy of it all!
1
The insatiably greedy win again. WE THE PEOPLE already pay many of the most gigantic wealth controllers but they want eve more.
They're special, don't you know?
No problem. WE THE PEOPLE who believe in social/financial equity will tax it all back as soon as we take back OUR government from the Robber Barons and their lawyers/accountants.
6
Once again the lobbyists, the rich and the resourceful, win! The "swamp" has become murkier and muddied by special interests.
How is it fair when all "interests (including the poor and middle class people)" are NOT represented in the mother-of-all tax bill?
People spend more time buying a house worth a few hundred thousands as compared to what congress did with this tax bill involving trillion of dollars.
If patriotism is promoting collective good of the country over that of an individual or small groups, how is this act patriotic? Kneeling down as a protest during the national anthem, burning the flag as a protest is nowhere near as damaging as this premature, ill-conceived, lop-sided bill is.
This past year is an example of how US lost its priorities, moral sanity, and respect for equipoise.
These regressive steps in finances, environment, foreign policy, etc will lead the country in only one direction-- downhill. The problem is, few years from now, we cannot reverse the clock. "we predicted it" "i told you so" "we know this will happen" will only sound self-serving. It will not help correct the damage done.
4
And people wonder why the IRS has so many regulations and tax opinions.
Careless legislators in a hurry to please their special interest donors, what could go wrong?
4
This actually simplifies things a great deal for the IRS. There is likely to be a nice increase in the number of people who don't itemize (currently around 30%). The fewer deductions the IRS has to chase down and verify, the better.
1
Our esteemed jurinalist claims that Houdini claimed an epic victory against the Government. What? A federal judge in California ruled that Houdini was within its rights to deduct certain expenses because it met the criteria of a manufacturer. Repeat. A California federal judge.
When the federal judiciary rules against anything Trumpian, the Left sings the praises of the checks and balances that the Founding Fathers thoughtfully enshrined in the Constitution.
Learned Hand had the best comment on the duty to pay taxes. I suspect the Left adheres assiduously to his doctrine. Except when it comes to someone else's taxes.
1
Today millions of Americans are decrying tax loopholes and manipulation of the tax code as they rush to prepay their real estate taxes.
5
The last time we cut major taxes the incomes of working class Americans fell:
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/12/gop-blindly-swears-tax-cuts-will-help-a...
Many of the top tax attorneys who identify loopholes in the IRS Code attended the very best law schools. To use a top legal education for such a purpose strikes me as the use of sophisticated skills for purposes that are contrary to the general welfare.
1
When was the last time that any bill of any kind passed by Congress was NOT written by lobbyists?
4
The Supreme Court has stated that if Congress does not like the results of their laws, then they need to write more explicit laws.
This issue is as old as tax law.
6
Shorter version: Those who claim our government is not working are simply not paying attention----our government is working extremely well on behalf of those who finance our elected officials, while ignoring or destroying virtually every other urgent infrastructure concern. environmental protection statute, education resources, and social support functions of our government.
6
Yes, when Trump said we'd be able to file our returns on a postcard... he meant that he would remove the handful of things that enable a middle class taxpayer to lower their bill. Meanwhile, the tax returns of the rich and huge corporations will continue to contain dozens of 'schedules' that take advantage of all of the loopholes that are built into this next bill- some by design; others a result of the sheer speed and laziness of the process.
2
"“That’s the nature of tax in general,” she said. “Every time you write a rule, there are people out there who think about ‘How do we get creative with it, and how do we get around it?’"
All the more so with provisions, like the juiciest and most noxious expansion of the pass-through dodge, when those provisions are added in the dead of night, unexamined, a couple of hours before passage of the bill.
Amazing how hard it is for the Republicans to embarrass themselves.
3
If this group of tax cutters in Congress have shown anything its that they not are big on tight focus. The pass through part will create unintended consequences galore. It seems that it was specifically placed in the tax bill as a big pay out to Trump and now the beneficiaries include Senator Corker. Senator Johnson wouldn't support the tax cut unless more was done for small business. So the pass through provision. How much real small businesses are help by the tax cut probably will be not much. Since they are not wealthy enough to be taken notice of by the Republicans.
Trump for once told the truth when to bragged to his richy, rich Mar-a-Lago friends that they're going to be "a lot richer" due to his new tax law. How happy they are were, and how they laughed at the middle class suckers who believed him when he told them it was a cut for them. The level of cynicism Trump and his Republican cronies exhibit is sometimes startling, even after the year we've had to get used to it. And, the contempt Trump shows for his mom and pop supporters grows and grows.
The most remarkable thing Trump has done as president is to convince millions of people that they cannot believe what they read about him. He lies over and over, about everything-major and minor, and then simply says that reports of the lies are fake. A brilliant strategy, and one that has allowed him to give massive tax breaks to himself, his family and the Mar-a-Lago crowd, but lesser, temporary breaks to his supporters, who don't have a clue and, in fact, have been convinced by him that deficits no longer matter and his tax law will bring economic prosperity for them. Again, brilliant.
5
And now, Paul Ryan is going after the social safety net because "the federal budget is out of control". Surprise? Want to slit ones' throat politically? Go after AARP. What's he thinking???
The answer is that man memorized two of Ayn Rand's novels and has hated everything associated with the welfare state for decades. He was a fringe Tea Party conservative 10 years ago. Now he's the Speaker.
VOTE him out in 2018!
9
The only people who can flush Ayn Rand's lover-boy are registered voters in his home district.
There are no offices representing a national constituency in the US.
1
This was not a Tax Bill , rather it was a TAX SCAM. It was Robin Hood in reverse. It was a robbing the middle class and giving to the super rich , rich and the corporations who are the donors for the Republican Party. Trump had no input or even no idea about tax bill. He had to sign a bill before the year end. Trump cheated his voters , the poor working class Americans . Like No More Taxes promise broken by GH Bush, Trump broken his promise of 'Middle Class Tax Break.' LiAR LIAR LIAR.
4
It would be interesting to see how the bill was first presented before the lobbyist's made all their demands in pen and ink amendments on the margins.
I fear that this bill was first written by lobbyists and then adopted by the GOP.
You can't get a single Republican to admit that 90% of their healthcare cost increase this year was the direct result of Trump blocking government subsidy payments to insurance companies. “I’m killing Obamacare.” – Trump. And now this tax cut bill removes the Individual Mandate for next year and the insurance companies have said they will have to increase premiums another 10%. “Obamacare is essentially dead now” – Trump.
Using their chart; I get a tax cut of $600 next year. But an increase in insurance premiums of $800. And my tax cut dissolves over the next 7 years; but not the corporations. I got my notice from Social Security that after two years I finally get a COLA (cost of living increase) of 2%, but that my Social Security payment is reduced to what it was because of insurance increases. Where is my loophole?
10
Ah, yes, loopholes. Reminds me of the story of WC Fields on his deathbed. A visitor came in and was surprised to find him reading the bible. "Looking for loopholes" was WC's measured sing-song response.
5
This tax cut was all about how to give people who need the least- the most, and write it in such a way that makes those people who the need the most THINK they got the MOST even though they got the least and the people who need the least got the MOST. That is how the swamp works! Swamps have gators which survived for millions of years.
3
"This was a fun lesson to teach the I.R.S.,” he said, with conviction."
Remember, the IRS did not write the new tax legislation. Corrupt Republican members of the Senate and House did.
7
Of course loopholes.
That's why I find the argument over the stated corporate tax rate of 35% so misleading; the EFFECTIVE corporate tax rate is 20%. And what about just not paying, like Trump, like the investors in Panama and in the Paradise schemes?
Then there's legal zero tax rates. Several years ago, Ca tried to get Shell to pay extraction taxes for their offshore drilling. It came to a statewide vote and Big Oil money won. Knowing other states' use oil extraction taxes to pay for infrastructure, I wonder at the complacency of this liberal state in subsidizing Shell and then raising citizens' taxes for road, bridges maintenance.
1
No need to LOOK for tax loop holes - they're in plain sight. Just follow the money and see where it leads you. To the TOP of the richest corporations and individuals in our country - INCLUDING the 'mighty President' who continues to ROAR!!!
1
We have taken several steps closer to serfdom with this tax proposal which exacerbates the chasm between the rich and the hoi polloi. These tax breaks created by loopholes were in plain sight when the bill was written and could have been reported to the public sooner if the Republicans had used public hearings and committee meetings to fully air the legislation.
The Republicans knew this bill was shady so they kept the rest of us in the dark, intentionally. Even the loopholes like the carried interest loophole that they promised they were closed were maintained.
When the revenue to the treasury is reduced by these cuts, by the absurdly generous inheritance provisions, and by the loopholes, it will be the average Jane and John taxpayer that will be asked to cut back and foot the bill. This gift to the rich was a charge card purchase that will impact everyone for generations.
1
Between gaming the tax system, haggling over heath insurance, and dealing with multiply redundant layers of regulation, who has time to conduct their businesses in the US?
3
It is all a sham. We need to have a VAT system in place. Tax consumption and then progressively tax individual short term capital gains and dividends. Tax them until we provide health care and education for all.
Is the concern about those getting the tax breaks they bought or is it that some who didn't help pay for a tax break might still be able to take advantage of it or is it that the clumsy and rushed tax bill writers somehow inserted tax breaks that no one paid them for? In any case, if one objective of the tax bill is to drive up the deficit by reducing government tax income then every little bit of lost government income should be counted as a success.
Yes, absolutely true. Are you counting on Social Security, Medicare, or any other so-called "entitlement"? It is about to be chiseled.
1
So the bottom line is that this Tax Bill which reduced corporate income tax from 35 to 21% because of it's hasty writing and passage will allow even more benefits due to unintended loopholes contained within. This logically will result in further deficit shortfalls caused by a lack of government revenue and then the real magic will begin. A broad based call by Republican lawmakers to aggressively pursue entitlement reform. Read that to mean that Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and a host of social safety net programs will be downsized. Congratulations America ... You have delivered the government into the hands of the oligarch's puppets.
3
I bet that nary a commenter uses a loophole or deduction but rather they contribute as much of their wealth to the government as possible. Right?
5
Something that's my due for me, a loophole for thee!
2
I've had a tax preparation business for decades. Everyone is a republican at tax time.
2
True enough. I just wish that my loopholes were as generous as the as those of the special interests.
1
For anyone interested, an op-ed on the new GOP-Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. https://tinyurl.com/taxbill-highertaxess
And let's not have the name of the bill fool any of us. Most Americans will see their taxes increase, not decrease. And job incentives - other than a pure fantasy around trickle-down from corporate tax savings - are non-existent.
2
Is Vegas laying odds on the 2018 election? If they do, I suspect that they can clean up by betting on Republicans to stay in power because unless Americans turn out in HUGE numbers with women, independents and disaffected Republicans voting Democratic these same Robber Legislators will be back in office thanks to gerrymandering and voter disenfranchisement. This tax bill is just the first step in the move back to salary feudalism and national impoverishment through corporate theft and law rigging. What did Trump voters expect? The GOP has been saying this for 30 years while trashing any law that works for the common good. No cure for gullibility.
1
Trump has declared he and his spawn won't benefit from this so-called tax reform bill. This is utter brazen lying. We have here the most massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the weathy in US history! By 2027 those earning annually $40-50,000 collectively will pay a total of $5.3 trillion MORE in taxes. While those earning more than a million annually will collectively pay a total of $5.7 trillion LESS in taxes. These are numbers certified by both the CB and the Joint Committee on Taxation. This is so outrageous that people should be up in arms.
13
Of course there will be loopholes to exploit from a law that was slapped together in the dark by lobbyists and totally corrupt politicians.
When the cost of the bill turns out to be $3 trillion, not $1.5 trillion, the Republicans will simply tax the middle class and blue states more. Problem solved!
119
Or the Republicans will forfeit their electoral power and leave the Democrats to repair the damage , and again placing the Democratsto in the position to be blamed for a crippling economy. And so the cycle recommences.
3
@Brad,
And the high tax states deserve taxation; it is high time the federal government stops subdizing their high taxes. Life on the dole is over. Thank you.
2
It's a pretty pathetic situation when it's come down to this. I wonder what it would take to get people to actually turn up to vote?
1
There's an old saying that you can tell when a politician is lying because his lips are moving. That doesn't totally apply to Trump, mainly because he is not a politician. But he is a liar. Most of what he says is a lie. During his campaign, when he spoke it seemed like the truth, such as when he said, "if American multinational corporations want to manufacture their products overseas and then bring the products back to the US for sale, we will place a tariff of 35% on them at the port. That promise seems to have lost traction because of his oligarch supporters.
If a tariff of 35% had been imposed it could have saved the middle class worker and stopped the greatest transfer of wealth from happening.
He also said, "if you are middle class or lower and trust that the US Chamber of Commerce will ever protect you, you would be wrong." The US Chamber of Commerce hires the lobbyists for the wealthiest investors and corporations. It was the Big Business Round Table, composed of CEOs from the largest corporations, that decided that corporations were yielding too much economic power to their workers and so decided to outsource jobs to avoid unions who protected our workers.
It's a shame that Trump reneged on both these statements after he was elected. I guess politicians can be guilty of lying out of both sides of their mouth.
2
It's Obama's fault of course that he handed Trump a lousy economy that had created 16.5 million jobs.
3
Slap-a-dash law making, at your disservice. In any other organization our congress would be fired and sued for dereliction of duty and poor performance.
2
Paying your SALT early does absolutely no good if the AMT kicks in.
1
...All Lies, All The Time...
2
Really excellent reporting by Natalie Kitroeff. It raises the question, "How can we be sure that this bill won't go over the budget deficit limit?" The example of the 2004 manufacturing provision that Natalie raises fuels our skepticism about this tax bill. Republicans sold us a line that it won't raise the deficit unacceptably, in addition to the story that economic growth will pay for this bill.
There are a lot of good quotes from this article, but the following says it all:
-----
"It took longer to write the law that included the manufacturing deduction in 2004 than it did to shape the entire tax bill this time around. The haste is sure to create countless new adventures for accountants like Ms. Cheng.
“That’s the nature of tax in general,” she said. “Every time you write a rule, there are people out there who think about ‘How do we get creative with it, and how do we get around it?’”
-----
Congress was just out there in a panic to do something for Trump before Christmas. Congress has a 12.5% approval rating and Trump has a 30% approval rating; they are forming tax policy. Good luck, America.
5
Charles, who signed the bill in 2014? I recall that during those years there was a mechanism called the veto. Or was trump pulling Obamas strings even then?
2
"You All Just Got a Lot Richer"
- Donald Trump to Mar-a-Lago friends
6
See how craven our elected leaders are? In their simple-minded money-grubbing, they accept language that donors write. And then IRS is challenged in court to broadly interpret that language to satisfy the donors.
Our problem is for-profit government. Money is ruining politics. We need mandatory public campaign financing to eliminate the sheer force of the donor class to outwit and outbid the unwary public.
As it is, the government operates for corporations and not for the people, who established and ordained the constitution.
"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government." http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
9
Here is the scenario. The tax bill has created an already unsupportable deficit. To prevent government shutdown, gut most of the bureaucracy, especially those agencies involved in regulations enforcement, then privatize or eliminate the entitlement programs (called reform). Infrastructure improvements will be paid for by the rich, for a price, probably more tax right-offs. I wouldn't be surprised if the ultra rich and corporations eventually pay zero in taxes while the middle class supports what's left of government. Of course there will be kickbacks to Republican Congressmen (no women) for giving pieces of the entitlement program to their states.
7
Actually privatization of infrastructure improvements will produce more toll usage for that infrastructure, increasing costs for the rest of us. We've already begun seeing over the past few years an increase in the number of privately owned roads (previously built by public tax dollars) for which we'll pay a toll for usage to the new owners, all because federal, state, or local governments don't have the money to maintain that infrastructure themselves. That will be the cost of allowing them to 'invest' in infrastructure improvements. The end result will be paying a new toll for every 5-10 miles of I90 or any other interstate, from Boston to Florida with the attendant costs in transporting goods. Imagine passing over the Verizon or Comcast bridge every day while commuting. Of course, they'll set it all up on EZ-Pass and proclaim that they just made your commuting life simpler. In the end, it comes down to the public BUILT those roads, but now the public will have to PAY a company to pad their profit margin. This is an unstated cost of tax cuts. Goods, Services, Transport of Goods, etc. all become more expensive with a disproportionate amount paid by ordinary people. It's effectively a backdoor tax increase.
2
I am having a very difficult time reconciling the NYT's past reporting that ever higher marginal income taxes do not effect human behavior. For instance, the NYT and other publications have previously reported that ever higher progressive, marginal State Income taxes do not cause people to relocate to lower tax States. This is a view that I found extremely hard to believe. Now, the NYT is reporting that loopholes in the tax code will result in people "gaming" the code so that they pay lower taxes. Really? Do tax codes really effect human behavior. Based on your past reporting, that would be very difficult to believe.
4
Taking advantage of a tax loophole is a lot easier than, say, pulling the kids out of school and relocating the family to Alabama from California. Obviously convenience has an impact, tax changes that create massive inconveniences to take advantage of them will not have a very big impact on behavior.
1
"It is a lesson in the abundant creativity of American business in interpreting the tax code."
This says it all. The tax code is complicated, and favors those with expensive tax lawyers, who specialize in thwarting the government's intentions, to the benefit of their well-heeled clients.
This is the reason we have so many laws and regulations, in the tax code and everywhere else. The honest person or business who is willing to pay their fair share is burdened with the laws that are supposed to curtail the cheaters and manipulators.
4
This is exactly why this latest tax bill should not have been rushed through in the middle of the night with probably not a single person in congress having ever read it in its entirety. Remember when the Senate at least pretended that it was a "deliberative body"?
6
This is draining the swamp and making the tax code simpler. Only in a Trumpian world would this make sense.
1
“This was a fun lesson to teach the I.R.S.,” he (Houdini) said, with conviction.
I've just put Houdini on my list of companies to never buy anything from. This was a lesson for all of us who pay our taxes.
3
You and me both, KO.
1
The Republican oligarchs and GOP-controlled Congress certainly knew what they were doing. Pass a law loaded with breaks and loopholes bigger than the Grand Canyon and, simultaneously, conduct a widespread propaganda campaign against the IRS, alleging that it wastes money, favors liberals, and is corrupt and out-of-control. Oh, and dramatically cut its budget.
Leaving a major question for all of us to ponder: if the government is unable to maximize federal revenue collections by insuring that existing laws are enforced, how will the nation make up for the shortfall of unenforcement, on top of the drain created by the law itself?
98
Any degree of complexity is going to be exploited by the those who can afford the expertise and the effort to use the tax code for purposes other than raising revenue is what creates the complexity. There is no reason why we could not have a simple tax code that applies one equal tax rate to all taxpayers, individuals, foundations, and corporations alike, regardless of the source of income or how it is used. It would strip congress of their power to use the tax code to punish and reward and so would likely require an article V convention to make it a constitutional requirement. Complexity is inevitably unfair and the results unpredictable.
7
So corporations get a big tax break and the loopholes should make their windfall profits even higher. Put another way, Trump lowers taxes so that companies that went overseas in search of cheap labor can come back. The money gained should help them pay for automation and robotics as it's the cost of labor that sent them away in the first place. But what did he say to sell it? Oh yah, jobs and wage increases is what it's all about, NOT.
13
The “Christian-loving” (not!) GOP tax heist should be named what it is: HERESY! Because taking from the poor to aid the super-rich is a VICE - not a Virtue.
And creating tax law that the wealty can best exploit is simply adding more VICE to a tax policy that exploits the underclasses and advantages those with the financial resources to take advantage.
I’m sick of the hypocrisy and frank heresy. Please, let’s call it by the right name.
14
So then see to NOT voting republican. They did this with Reagan, and with Bush as well. Good you caught on.
1
Donald on the Tax Code:
"Only I can fix it."
Well, the "Fix" is in.
Time to "Fix" the Donald.
Fix Donald.
20
Here we go again. A loophole is nothing more than a tax a liberal wishes existed.
4
Loop holes in tax laws are not inherently liberal or conservative. Instead they are the result of poorly drafted legislation.
9
One way or another, all levels of US government will tax and spend about one third of US economic product. It could be collected a lot more efficiently than it is at present.
1
A loophole is often a gift to the clients of a lobbyist. The corporate or individual clients funnel a few tens of thousands dollars to a lobbyist and some Congress-critters, and in return the clients get a few million dollars in tax breaks. Call it "return on investment."
Are you telling us that a tax bill put together by 500 lawyers has loopholes? I'm shocked, absolutely shocked !! You've got a firm grip on the obvious.
7
Nemisis,
You forgot the 6,000 lobbyists that helped write the bill.
2
Every last person involved in the whole process has conflicted interests.
1
good point, thanks.
The only thing I like better than some tax cheat thinking they are succeeding is watching and reading about rich old folks cheating the grim reaper.
1
Plutocrats haven't discovered how to turn off the human aging clock yet.
1
you're just the tool that these plutocrats love. if you don.t think that the tax lawyers and accountants working for the mega wealthies haven.t sliced and diced this legislation already,you are being naive. what did trump proclaim to his pals? i just made you all richer.
6
Not only have they sliced and diced this, people like Mnuchin have front run the changes of values it will force in derivatives markets.
1
That's the way the game is played, government workers are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.
2
"government workers" didn't create this or any other legislation: career politicians, lawyers and lobbyists do that; and voters approve of it with enthusiastic chants and rallies. i'd say it's the latter that are dull tools.
2
The Bureaucrats are just enforcing the badly written legislation.
Repeal and Replace.
9
Not to worry; You'll be able to do all this on a postcard. The supreme leader has promised!
9
It's still easy if you don't want to claim any deductions. Attach your W2s to a 1040, and mail it in (electronically if you want).
1
mlbex:
It's amazing how ill-informed partisans are about this tax bill and its effects on Americans, three-quarters of whom will see lower taxes according to this publication.
1
Hmmm, there sure seem to be an awful lot of posters in here advocating for the libertarian consolation prize, the flat tax. Wonder which of the Koch brothers' shill front has been instructed to brigade here..
6
"The more of anything there is, the less each unit of it is worth" really sticks in the craws of people whose sole interest in money is exertion of raw power.
1
Between the incredible speed with which this new tax plan was written, the high level of desperation on the part of its authors, the secretive and non-bipartisan way in which it was created, and the intense influence of thousands of lobbyists there to insert loopholes at the get-to, writing one of the most important pieces of legislation that affects every U.S. citizen, carried out in the wrongest of wrong ways - what could possibly go wrong? The new tax plan won't be taken advantage of; on the contrary, it will operate just as it was designed to operate, much to the detriment of the 99% of us.
246
For a second there I thought you were referring to the ACA..
2
Midwest Josh,
The ACA actually took months to complete. This tax bill took one month.
4
Dear Midwest Josh:
The ACA was passed on party lines, but unlike this tax bill, the writing was not closed to Republican members, and they had input. There were hundreds of hours of public hearings and testimony taken, none of which occurred with this tax bill. With the ACA, there were not the thousands of lobbyists there were with this tax bill, and it certainly was not rushed through because the party couldn't get its act together for an entire year, during which nothing got done at all...and finally, no Dem ever had to say, "our donors are demanding this before we get any more campaign cash" and that shows you who this tax bill is for.
3
Even as the IRS try to curtail early property tax payment in high tax States, there are tax advantage for all tax payers who will switch to standard deduction in 2018 to prepay property taxes in 2017 to reduce their tax liabilities in 2017.
In Ohio counties, tax bills have already been posted on line before the holidy....so why not get a one time Xmas gift that Donald Trump pledge on his Twitter account.
5
I think taxpayers should also be aware that AMT could be triggered. Probably best to consult an accountant.
2
nowadays:
Most people don't realize that if they are paying the AMT they've already lost their real estate tax deductions and many others.
2
One way the Republicans could have made most of us happy would have been to simplify the tax code so that we all could have submitted our tax returns on a post card as promised. (anyone who believes politicians' promises, especially Trump's, deserves to be disappointed) Instead they just did a lot of backroom dealing and wheeling, controlled by campaign donors, and gave us a new but unimproved plan which is a boon for accountants and will be onerous for most of us. Even more onerous for those of us who will be paying more taxes and getting less services from our government than before. Americans will come to hate this new tax plan and Trump and the Republicans in this Congress will be voted out of office in two years. Unfortunately we will all suffer the consequences of this politically motivated legislation for a decade to come and maybe longer if this tax "Plan" wrecks the economy as it may well do because of all the unintended consequences of a poorly conceived, unvetted legislation.
2016 may be seen the year that America sowed the seeds of its own destruction, with the help of Vladimir Putin who knew just how naive, gullible and uneducated too many American voters actually were.
17
I wish I could make a supersized poster for my sister's wall with this. She would not listen to our warnings before Nov 2016. This could have been her Holiday Present du Joiur.
2
I guess the postcard idea advanced by Paul Ryan was a measure of his honesty, practicality, reliability, leadership, and trustworthiness. What he probably meant was that he could fit his brain on a postcard addressed to the dead letter office. But loopholes are exactly what his donors want and we should all realize that the Republicans who drove this mess knew all along that there were "treats" in the bill for their donors' accountants and lawyers to find. After all, it's the holiday season.
Finally, these low-lives managed to take the "Christ" out of Christmas and replace it with an "X".
6
Was it anymore of a lie than the "if you like your doctor" fib? Politicians always over promise because it works.
3
The "if you like your doctor" was also repeated by Trump. The point is not that politicians lie [which we all know] but the magnitude of the fraud perpetrated by the Republicans is unprecedented and comes at a significant cost to everyday Americans.
3
Remarkable how many democrats are suddenly concerned about an increase in insurance premiums. Where, exactly, were they when Americans were facing rocketing premiums and out-of-pockets after the ACA was enacted?
Not a peep then from democrats about those earning above $50K who were hit very hard by the ACA. Now suddenly, democrats are unhappy that these same Americans might face a premium increase?
Incidentally, democrats are making the same mistake by ignoring the millions of families and small businesses that will be helped by this tax bill. Once again they are focusing on the wrong cohort (ex., the rich and corporations).
1
If the 60% doesn't gather together and put a stop to this, there will always be abundant rules for the have nots, and NO rules for the haves. It's not just the 1% who cheat and lie.
7
The nation is a darn sight better off from the huge chasm left by Bush eight years ago when the economy was in freefall, leaving in its wake a record deficit of $1.3 trillion (an unprecedented unsustainable 10% of the economy) after more than doubling the national debt, and racking up trillions more in unbudgeted costs for two wars. While stablizing the economy and containing the US war footing, the Obama administration grappled fiscally with that massive deficit reducing it at a faster rate than during WW2 demoblization to a more managable $500 billion (now 2% of the economy). Now in one fell swoop so-called president trump rather than building on a sound fiscal construct is foolhardily and recklessly throwing caution and
prudence to the wind. This is sheer lunacy.
24
When busted debt instruments wind up on the Federal Reserve Bank's balance sheet, they become assets. Paul Ryan counts on that.
1
Yes the hunt for loopholes has begun and will continue for years, but my guess is that it will shortly be followed by a hunt for ways to pay for the tax cuts.
9
What's left to cut? Gut most of the bureaucracy, especially those involved in regulations enforcement, then privatized or eliminate the entitlement programs (called reform). Infrastructure improvements will be paid for by the rich, for a price, probably more tax right-offs. I wouldn't be surprised if the ultra rich and corporations eventually pay zero in taxes while the middle class supports what's left of government. Of course there will be kickbacks to Republican Congressmen (no women) for giving pieces of the entitlement program to their states.
1
The timeline (13 years to repeal this "manufacturing" tax cut) should give us some clue about the longevity of the new 2018 tax law.
Stuff like carefully structuring your business and income to qualify for a tax-through writeoff will be the norm for the next decade. A future generation of lawmakers will sputter and choke and babble on the complain trail complaining that the pass-through boondoggle complicates everyone's tax returns and they, alone, can fix it by passing reform which will let you file your taxes on a postcard.
They lie.
4
(Typo above - I mean "pass-through", i.e. business owners and people whose work can be made to resemble a business.)
2
The "carried interest" loophole which is arguably the most egregious one in the current law has not been touched. It remains to provide fund managers and others with huge tax benefits on income they definitely do not earn but which are simply "skimmed off the top" like cream.
Trump "Trumpeted" throughout the campaign that he would repeal this robbery and yet somehow it has not happened.
Yet the State and Local Taxes deduction is gone. I wonder how those who argue for Federalism and States Rights can justify this double taxation.
18
To be fair, though, no president, however much they want or think they can, is able to fully dictate all the provisions of a law to Congress. They are left then with the choice to veto it or live with an imperfect or flawed bill. Happens time and again, and sometimes, what a president wants is not right either.
I just don't get the argument, though, on "double taxation". Every American is supposed to pay federal income tax based on their income. Why is that affected by where you live, so that two citizens making an identical sum of money may be allowed to pay more or less to their "fair share" of federal taxes based on residency. I thought our federal taxes pay for things like entitlements like Medicare, for the military, for national parks, etc. Just because, say, New York, assesses a higher than average state income tax, residents thereof should owe less to the federal government for equal access to all of those benefits? Where is the logic in that?
1
NY and other high-tax places often either have more people and generate more money from business. Someone has to pay for the infrastructure to support them (more roads & bridges, rail access, public transportation, more schools, more support positions for public works and health/safety). It’s not like taxes are high for their own sake - they’re directly there to support the taxpayers and businesses in those regions.
I agree the deductability of state and local taxes should have nothing to do with where you live but that is not the point. The "double " taxation merely maintains that income taxes should be based on the net of total income as corrected for taxes paid to other government entities. It is a deduction that should apply to all states equally to allow for states and localities to be a strong and somewhat independent part of the Federal system. This principle is important to me because it promotes what makes us great as a nation:States and cities can spend money on such items as education, environment, health care,streets, etc.and other local concerns that we want to give priority to. I cannot understand why people who say they are protective of State and local rights are not in favor of deductions for State and local taxes.Dollars that are spent in Birmingham, Alabama should be a deductible those spent in Fresno,California or Racine, Wisconsin.
I would reverse your concern by asking why should people in Wisconsin be punished for wanting to spend more on education? After all, this money is being spent on legitimate governmental concerns and not luxury items.
I hope these words help in answering your very legitimate question.
Oh look, they all figured out how to pay 5% instead of 20%.
Kind of like the past decade, when they figured out how to pay 20% instead of 35%.
14
The great Law of Unintended Consequences. How beautiful to see the government get kicked in its behind because the jerks were too interested in being miserly. Instead of fair.
Commenter just wrote "One sure thing …is that it lowers taxes for most…". Well, We'll see about that. I pay thousands of dollars in taxes even though I'm below the median income. I'm single and age 70, so I don't have to have my hand held if I want to do something. And I get benefits from my tax money from the government which far exceed what I pay. When the Boss decides to cut back on those agencies that provide upkeep on infrastructure for example, I am probably more isolated and disadvantaged. And not because of some psychological or sociological disorder or phenomenon. Government is failing to provide essentials needed for the common welfare. And that word doesn't only mean a dribble of cash and $1.20 a day per capita in food stamps. Or whatever the handout is now. Nobody wants the handout and the soup kitchen line and the insufficient medical care that medicaid provides. OF COURSE everyone who gets these is needy and tries not to resent the hard times. But appealing to the Lord for relief should not be necessary. We all should have plans that result in sufficiency so that our spiritual self can give praise to our Lord.
Frankly, I feel closer to the companies and their lawyers and accountants and their successes in evading the unethical motivations we see in the laws of the land.
31
Sadly the current crop of republicans believe that government only exists to enrich the uber-wealthy and operate on behalf of their interests. They think that a government that is responsive to the needs of the middle class and poor in the form of affordable healthcare, a well funded public infrastructure system, and etc. is evil and should not exist.
3
Just a prediction, but maybe better hurry and get those photos printed at the Walgreens and CVS for $10 bucks a hundred. Thought it was odd corporate kindness that they used all that square footage AND 50% of the two workers on the floor to maintain it.
Not to mention upkeep on the behemoth copy machine alone. Will be interesting to see how they spin it to us last Luddites. End of THAT era!
2
Might want to consider getting those passport pictures, as well.
Imagine that, the GOP does not have a grip on commonsense business regulation. So now we're supposed to believe the GOP can run government competently and efficiently. I don't think so.
9
If you want to tax code with few loopholes, you should create a simple tax code with very few (or even no) exemptions. Any exemption would be exploited and create loopholes, guaranteed. This are millions of smart lawyers and accountants out there working diligently on this money printing exploitation.
This seemingly simple choice unfortunately is unpopular with either Democrats or Republicans, who have the opposite priorities that they want to "incentivize". Whatever tax law created with whatever party as the majority would leave a trail of crazy loopholes.
So don't blame one side. Both parties are guilty.
6
Let's assign blame to this party first. They promulgated this mess, all by themselves, and made sure no one else could add or subtract anything.
Keep calm and carry on
1
This is a classic example of how the rich get richer. Lobbyists, paid propagandists, CPAs and tax attorneys tilt the playing field in their direction. The average taxpayer is at the mercy of politicians to leave them some crumbs while corporations and the very wealthy in effect write their own rules. The public needs to wake up to this massive scam. Our only recourse is at the ballot box.
281
Sorry, outside the bubble, most Americans don't care about the rich and, in fact, find it distasteful to focus on other people's fortunes. Rather, they aspire to be wealthy themselves and welcome attempts to stimulate the economy.
One scam being waged right now is by democrats, who are in the unenviable position of trying to convince taxpayers, most of whom will see lower taxes, that this bill doesn't benefit them.
1
I could not have said it better. This has been the case for decades. Please read The Power Elite by C. Wright Mills. It's how the Power Elite remains the Power Elite and rules the country.
3
Except that 83% of the benefits go to the top 1/10 of 1% by design.
When the rich run the country, that’s what they do.
It may destroy the country, but in that case, the rich will fund it even easier to rip off the rest of the people.
1
Well, I think manufacturing consists of using raw material in the production? The rest, like wine gift baskets, is marketing?
6
How nice that the Trump family will once again profit from this presidency.
The elections of 2018 can't come soon enough.
16
This tax legislation seems to have been designed to enlarge the so-called swamp. It will force Democrats, assuming they ever regain power, to raise taxes, which is what Republicans want them to do. Trump's feckless foreign policy will also, I suspect, have us at war in the near future, a war the Democrats will have to clean up. And so it goes.
7
The biggest loophole is that the presidential signature on the bill belongs to a man who has kept his taxes secret from the voters. The last time a tax cut bill was signed into law the presidential signature was that of a man put into office by a court decision. Both men are frauds and both tax cut bills will have the same result. Fool me once...
17
Okay, so where are the loopholes for ordinary working living-on-a-paycheck Americans? Tell us where those are, please. There don't seem to be any.
9
No loopholes but a nice $2K child tax credit, worth several times its weight in deductions, and lower tax brackets. Hard to deny lower tax brackets aren't a benefit to W2 employees.
Also hard to decry lack of benefits to almost half the country that doesn't pay federal taxes.
America First is a misnomer. It's really Lobbyists First, accomodated by Republican toadies willing to surrender all dignity and conservative ideals as they grovel at the feet of a reality show "president" and their wealthy donors.
8
I keep clinging to this silly, naive notion that the tax code should be only about collecting taxes. And then, if Starbucks needs a handout, then we give them a handout. All they should have to do is ask, right?
3
Government by the rich, for the rich.
Can the NYT please disclose what contributions from businesses or business lobbyists every Congressman and Senator received in 2017? Dems and Republicans. Highest to lowest. I would like to understand the level of corruption in our government.
18
I see why the GOP states need tons of subsidies from the Dem states.
We are all now Kansas.
13
Does anyone remember when Rep. Wilson (I think that was his name) yelled to then President Obama
'you lie' at one of his State of the Union addresses? I hope the same happens to Trump when he
gives his SOTU next year. This tax bill is just another Trump lie in a long list of lies and he should
be called out for it. What happened to the simple postcard Mr. President? The businesses get away
with tax murder and you stand up there and just keep lying about everything. You lie, Trump.
14
If he is talking, he is lying, So, vote !!!
2
Everyone and his brother calls Trump a "liar". It has lost its meaning.
BTW, Wilson's behavior was egregious, but he was not wrong. Not surprisingly, Obama was asserting something with complete confidence and authority but was entirely wrong. The ACA denied benefits to illegal immigrants, but it didn't contain a basic check for citizenship, which every other federal benefit includes. This check was quietly added after Wilson's outburst.
New previously undisclosed loopholes in a tax bill written by lobbyists? I'm shocked....so much for #DraintheSwamp
6
Where was the story about the Starbucks Footnote, and the wildly over-optimistic cost projections, from the ‘04 bill BEFORE this thing passed?
Please recycle editors to find folks who can stay ahead of the action and provide great stories to inform the debate, not primarily to chronicle it.
Also, please take the gloves off in reporting the driving role in all of this played by right-wing” media, which as you and we all know is truly a corporate intelligence operation. In other words, more like Mr. Hopkins overdue and revolutionary op-ed today; which by the increasingly wishy-washy standards of the MSM (hate to do it, but that annoying abbreviation does often work) vis-a-vis corporatism and plutocracy, is downright subversive. God bless him.
1
The writers and lobbyists have war-gamed and run simulations. The only mystery is for we proles, but there's nothing in here for us anyway. At least people realize there is a true economic war on...witness people all over Blue America lining up to pre pay taxes.
The expiring bone tossed to the red staters is a mere distraction, which, based on the comments sections of right wing websites, is working; "Trump cut my taxes..MAGA !!!!". The mark thinks they won something, the hallmark of a skilled con-man.
6
Yes. loopholes to allow the people like our wonderful (bad) President...and of course the Republican supporters such as the Koch brothers.
3
I'm absolutely sure that this is a great bill for working people, rural people, and uneducated people. (Who cares about poor people or the sick.) Trump promised us. He never lies. LOL!
3
My. My.
It seems like only yesterday, when rich democrat leaning types from NY, NJ,CA, etc were loudly proclaiming that they'd be PROUD to pay more taxes!!
And now, with the weak claim that without the property tax exemption....the same folks are rending their garments and knashing their teeth, bemoaning Higher Taxes!!
Its all bogus........the same property tax deduction effects ALL states......its only the rich people from rich states with rich property values that are complaining.
3
My brother lives in Texas and the deduction cap is going to hurt him.
Yes, the same people extolling the virtue of paying taxes are not too happy to be losing their SALT deductions. Directing their anger at the rich and corporations may convince them that they are not hypocrites, but the rest of us remain unconvinced.
The tax breaks given to "pass thru income" entities is another example of Republicans fraying the fabric of American society. Respect for contributing resources to a government for the common good is part of what makes our country financially strong (as opposed to a country like Greece, where dodging taxes is much more prevalent).
You can see from President Trump's statements that he thinks taxes are for suckers, which is another way of saying, being an American is for suckers.
235
Also, that being patriotic is for suckers!
Stand for the anthem, but avoid taxes - that’s what pleases Trump.
3
The GOP must think working for a living is for suckers.
3
On the other hand, I would argue that the pass through tax break is perhaps the one really good thing here. The small mom and pop shops, the hard working everyday American who owns their own buisnesses are not only the backbone of the country, but small buisness hires and employs more people than large. However, under current rules, in additon to the pass through individual tax rates that apply, the small business person must pay self employment tax which is over $14%. Easing the burden on this class has the best chance of accomplishing something positive of anything else I have seen. These folks hire more people, buy more equipment and support the local economies.
When there's a lack of transparency, hundreds of pages including some with handwritten notes and a great rush to get to the finish line, well, that suggests lots of shenanigans. This complex tax bill is certain to favor certain folks, especially those with great wealth who can pay experts to interpret it and take advantage of the loopholes.
Real tax reform would have required transparency.
186
And true bipartisanship.
2
The atmosphere is "hyper partisan" as you say, but what can the minority do when the majority refuses regular order on a bill, thereby bypassing normal regular dialog and consideration?
Banker and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin told everyone "had staff running hundreds of scenarios". Then, the world learned, on Rachel Maddow Show that there was noone in Mr. Mnuchin's department running any scenarios at all.
Couple this with no regular order or discussion or any bipartisan effort on the part of the majority party, Republicans, and you have a bill that favors the very wealthy and hurts poor and middle class.
1
Whatever happened to all the Republicans who mightily referred to themselves as "fiscal conservatives"?
What a joke!
10
I’m going to make lots of babies and they’ll all have their own lemonade stand.
7
"The new law is also supposed to encourage companies to make investments in the United States. But the rules were written in such a way that they could give businesses an incentive to keep their money in foreign countries and build factories abroad."
And the Republicans don't care. A law written by uninformed idiots, with only one goal - to transfer wealth to the already wealthy. Congrats guys, your con worked. By the way, Democrats, how about submitting a raft of new bills designed to fix these "unintended" consequences? Keep this in the public eye, harp on Republican stupidity and occupy the Republicans to keep them from passing more venal laws. Or are you complicit?
11
One thing is a certainty, this tax "reform" (joke) is nothing but a giveaway to corporations and the rich like (maybe) Trump. These groups are tiny in population but politically powerful giants. The bought the GOP a long time ago and there is a downside to that ... it's called elections.
I for one plan on trying to do everything I can to prevent the additional $4,000 I have to pay in 2018 from going into the pockets of the Uber Wealthy and the big shareholders of Home Depot. Like, f'instance - prepaying 2018 tax bills and cutting up my Home Depot credit card. But my loopholes are now for the rich. The GOP cut most of mine away in favor of the Donor Class.
Trump voters would be wise to reflect on their political punch individually compared to the owners of large corporations and the rich elites. No way are they in the same league. It's like MLBaseball and Little League. And that begs a question: why would Trump tell his friends that "they just got a whole lot richer"? Will Trump throw bones to the throngs of voters who line up to see him rant and blather in Podunk, CA.? Or maybe it will be Skittles?
4
There's no end of surprises waiting to be found in this dog's breakfast of a 'reform'. Rushed through, no hearings, so much written behind closed doors, so much dictated by lobbyists - I suspect if the Times were to assemble a team of tax lawyers and accountants to go through it line by line, they could spend weeks generating stories.
So much easier just to call it a win for Trump and the Republican Party, and move on. Long term investigative reporting is hard and expensive - and awfully hard to send out in tweets.
3
The real problem here is We The People give up some very big personal deductions and exemptions and in return we don't even receive any deficit reduction. Taxpayers should gird for the day the deficit looms large in DC, cause there'll be another tax increase for that. Trump is a modern-day pirate who just happens to be POTUS.
According to this article since anyone can be a manufacturer then I am going to use that same thinking when I file this year in that "anyone can be a parent." I shall add my cat as a dependent and use him for a tax deduction. So much for Paul Ryan's "you can file your taxes on a postcard."
3
The IRS has very specific rules for claiming dependents...
And left out of this was "single head of household". Guess which sex that will destroy?
1
For years the Republicans have done everything they can to skew the vote. Now more than ever before we can see that our votes don't count.
2
The tax code needs big time reform, to prevent the shenanigans described in this article, and Trump -like him or hate him- is correct about that.
I am not going to tell you that all Republicans are reasonable, many are not. But certainly we would have ended with a significantly better new tax code if a few Democrats were willing to play along.
The NYT tax calculator estimates that I will save $5000 from the new Bill, even though I live in a highly taxed state. Now considering that I believe that the remaining 90,000+ I pay annually in combined taxes are wasted on wars in far away places or on social programs of dubious merit... I am for the bill. I had hoped for a better bill with the inclusion of some Democrats.
The situation is best summed up by Napoleon's statement: You go to war with the army (or Congress) you have, not the one you wished you had.
2
If handing over 44 years of payroll deductions for SS, Medicare and Medicaid on a state and federal level is Dems not "playing along," I'm thrilled.
Where in the US Constitution does it say businesses shouldn't pay their fair share and taxpayers must foot the bill to keep them in business?
5
Democrats weren't even allowed to see the bill; only lobbyists and Republicans.
4
Eleanore, where in the Constitution does it say anything about "fair share" of taxation?
1
This particular and now expired loophole only worked for business that were somehow a legal entity like a corporation. It didn;t work for the self employed.
One thing that did, if you file a Schedule C is something my accountant calls "Family Wages". Hopefully it still does. Its more or less the same as a Health Savings Account etc. where money is removed before any tax is applied to it. How it works is that you total up what you and your family spend on out of pocket medical expenses and write in a line "Family Wages" in miscellaneous expenses on Page 2 of the Schedule C. The requirement is that family members actually have to do some documentable work for your business. Thus this money is removed before you pay SE taxes and regular taxes on it. The first person to do this was denied it in an audit. He took the IRS to court over this one and won - the judge ruled that its was no different in a HSA and in many ways a better way to do it. Any accountant that helps the self employed should be using this loophole.
It also once included health insurance premiums, which were then not deducted as the SEHP deduction on the 1040. But ObamaCare changed that since health insurance became subsidized for many of the self employed. Out of pocket expenses are still allowed.
2
No bill is perfect and in the hyper-partisan atmosphere, regular order has disappeared. This tax bill accomplishes much, lower individual and corporate rates, that latter a goal of both parties for decades. The individual deduction is increased and the result, according to the tax calculator embedded in this article, is that 75% of Americans will see lower taxes. This article criticisms are mostly speculative, that loopholes will be found, just like in the current system, or that maybe companies might find incentives to build factories abroad. If one sticks to the actual facts, which liberals have become obsessed with, the tax bill looks pretty good.
23
What happened to the traditional conservative concern for the deficit? The tax bill raises the deficit by a minimum of 1.5 trillion over the next decade.
9
So if fairness is your goal Mark V, why didn't the GOP simply reduce all tax rates by 1% or 2% without any loopholes at all? Why? Because the GOP has been bought. Once bought, they stay bought.
If 75% of Americans will see lower taxes, how come the very rich will see a massive tax break and folks making $50k a year will see pennies in comparison? You know the answer, Mark. Trickle down.
11
what happened to your critical thinking? The deficit doubles!!!@!!!@!@!!@
5
This tax bill uses government as a weapon. It undermines institutional standing, democratic principles and makes politics a self-interested game. Congress, IRS, FBI, State Dept, EPA, Dept of Ed, judiciary...all coming down like Saddam Hussein’s statue. What will be left is whatever the 11 donor families and a few corporations want. The rest of us will be watching a fake wresting match on Fox News.
5
This does not surprise me at all. No one likes paying taxes, but corporations and the rich are in a position to do something about it. They can (and do) hire people whose sole job is to minimize their taxes. The new tax bill simply means they have a lower jumping-off point.
2
Yet another example of how we create messes like this by trying to solve everything through legislation and rules. Toss in the world's largest contingent of lawyers (a pox if there ever was one) and tens of thousands of pages of legalese and bureaucratese in every law, rule and regulation, this is what you get.
We are a large and complex society, so we need laws and rules, of course. But we too often think that enacting them solves problems, which, while that may happen in a lot of cases, often makes things even worse. The solution? Not to get rid of the problem language, of course, but to add MORE. The more that is written the greater the chance that there is error. We see it time and again. Ahh, the government mind!
I can't blame people though - as many commenters in here seem eager to do - for using what the law allows them. The term loophole is often bandied about to assail often what is perfectly legal. If I use the mortgage deduction "loophole" that's fine and dandy, but if Exxon or anyone richer than me uses another perfectly legal "loophole" that's evil and must be condemned. So much hypocrisy.
4
The mortgage deduction is not a loophole. It's a clearly defined deduction in the tax code. Just like the standard deduction. Taking a deduction for something a tax clause was not intended for, like roasting beans and calling it "manufacturing," is a loophole.
Please understand what you're talking about.
4
I do perfectly understand what I'm talking about, CF! You obviously missed the point. Both the mortgage deduction as well as whatever (in my example) deductions a corporation like Exxon may take are a "clearly defined deduction in the tax code" - yet one is okay and the other excoriated as a "loophole" and those who utilize are some how "not paying their fair share", a tiresome trope if there ever was one.
As for the roasting beans things, I get that. But poorly worded law is poorly worded regardless. But the two points are not mutually exclusive.
2
Thanks--you said it for me.
Just one more reason for a flat tax, or perhaps 3 different rates of flat taxes across the board. No gaming, no deductions. Just pay the percentage and be done with it. Bring on the postcard...
12
It will never happen in the US. The economy is too complex and there are too many special interests. The politicians are too dependent on campaign contributions from rich people and businesses that are willing to pay to get the their own own special loophole written into the Internal Revenue Code.
3
Did I say it would ever happen?
Should it happen?
1
And put all those lobbyists out of work? We'd have to increase welfare; what else can they do?
1
Loopholes in the pass-though deduction that can easily be exploited by businesses that employ few or no employees, incentives for “round trip” manufacturing and for setting up manufacturing in foreign countries, the huge breaks for conservation easement syndicators remain untouched.
Lots of shelters to be uncovered ahead, like any tax bill. But early signs are that no one has any idea if this bill written by lobbyists in the dark depths of the Trump/GOP swamp will benefit American working families.
114
Lower tax brackets and a $2K credit per child (worth much than deductions) will most definitely benefit American working families.
No need to worry. This bill was never intended to benefit working families. And it will not. The fat cats and Trump Swamp alligators will experience the largesse the GOP intended. One can only hope that 2018 will deliver the comeuppance they so well deserve.
8
Don't be fooled by the sleight of hand that these short term "breaks" for the average family appear to give. Health insurance is going to cost all of us more because there will be more sick people and fewer (presently) well people buying it. So that's one place for the alleged savings for the average guy to disappear. The Trump Swamp alligators will not feel this as their taxes will go down more than enough to compensate.
I honestly do not mind paying my fair share of taxes. Taxes, fairly distributed, are a necessary thing. It costs money to provide the services of government we all need and expect to receive. My objection is to the fat cats writing code that reduces (and in some cases eliminates) their share, while doing nothing for the average guy.
7
I am not at all surprised. As long as we think that (1) "other" people or businesses should pay more taxes and (2) tax policies should be designed to manipulate personal and financial behavior, then law makers and lobbyists will take license to favor their pet projects and clients.
Please--how about a truly simple and equitable tax system? On the personal income side, treat all income the same, provide a generous deduction for each household member, and tax the rest at a constant rate. (My back of the envelope calculation suggests that deductions of $10,000 per person and taxing 25% of the rest would provide about the same tax revenue as today--we can argue about these two numbers but not about loopholes.) And on the business side, treat all company finance the same, and tax profit at a fixed rate (and tax any income passed-though according to the personal tax rules above).
14
Flat tax is regressive.
I guess I will respond to you twice, since you either don't understand the term or the math. And in my proposal, the effective tax rate is actually less for lower income, given the large deduction for each family member.
Loopholes, loopholes....
That's great....folks who planned to save a little more of their hard earned money by waiting in line at their local tax offices to pre-pay their 2018 property tax were shafted yesterday by a hastily written policy memo from IRS. Mnuchin and Trump probably joked about this (making these folks scramble like this waiting out in the cold only to get shafted) while they ate caviar and drank champagne while toasting the town Christmas day.
What really gets under my craw with this hodgepodge of a tax bill that Trump signed before heading off to Florida for a week or more of golf is the exemption for real estate investors and hotel operators that caps the amount of interest expenses businesses can deduct.
The Post should put great reporters onto this story and investigate how this particular exemption arose and made it into the final bill. Why that particular sector of the economy, a sector Trump and his family have 90+% of their money in, gets exempted from this cap on interest deduction and not other sectors of the economy is particularly troubling. This sector, albeit significant in its own right, is only a small portion of our total economy.
Why exempt this sector, this particular sector? Huh, McConnell, Mnuchin, Ryan and Trump? Why???
Maybe major news entities can dig this up and report on it, front page, for weeks....
In the meantime, have fun on the links Trump - and be sure to Always Take Care of #1 - i.e., YOURSELF!!!!!!
23
I take exception tot he guy that said the government doesn't run efficiently....it's the laws poorly written by Congress that's the problem. Can't imagine there won't be many problems in this hastily written mess 45 calls tax reform.
15
One sure thing about the tax bill is that it lowers taxes for most Americans.
8
You mean most rich Americans, and most companies, but not for many "Americans" Nor does it make it easier to pay taxes and it sure puts more burden in the huge increase in the deficit it creates.
23
A fact that democrats hope to obscure. They are acting as though it's a crime to lower taxes. And a crime to try to jump start the economy.
Democrats have moved quite far from the concerns of most Americas, which continue to be jobs and their own pocketbooks.
1
Wrong on all counts. The reason the rich get more of a tax break is because they pay the majority of taxes (simple math). If one takes the time to work the numbers, one can see that middle class Americans will save money. The poor don't pay taxes. The bill is pro growth. The repeal of the individual mandate will increase prices in the individual market.
4
Congress rushes through a generational tax reform just to put something up on the imaginary party scoreboard, and after the deal is done, a small army of clever tax attorneys and CPA's, each one with a focused interest that has nothing to do with "We the people", find lots of ways for their clients to avoid their resposibilities of citizenship.
'Tis a pity those clever minds couldn't be employed to do the same thing before the bill was set in stone. That would be the honest, responsible way of government, and we know that the Republican Party wants none of that, thank you very much.
The Law of Unintended Consequences does not apply here. The loopholes, weaknesses, and tax dodges contained in the new tax law were very much the designed default character of this joke piece of legislation.
28
I tip my hat to you. You nailed it with this comment!
We might as well end the election process as it is a fraud disguised as a democratic process where power is suppose to be vested in the people. It isn't. When rich donors, corporations, banks, and Wall Street dictate the laws, policies, and tax code of this country, we really no longer matter. We are nothing but fools living in a fantasy that our votes count, our elections are free, and that the stewards of our democracy are ever guarding it from those that would harm or corrupt it. We need to wake up and see what power, money, and influence has done to our nation. They have conquered us by dividing us into groups, red states, blue states, liberals, conservatives, blacks, whites, and everything in between, and by religion. They have convinced many that when the rich get richer and the powerful get even more powerful, we too will get richer and more powerful. Nothing but a fantasy spun out of thin air that many are conned to believe in. Now we have a tax bill that divides us even more, by wealth, by geography, by class. Truth is that we will remain a divided nation, we will have elections where votes don't really count thanks to an archaic electoral college, and where influence whether from within, or from abroad is welcomed and encouraged. Our America was suppose to an "America" for every man, woman, and child to enjoy and to prosper in. Sadly, the ones that enjoy it the most are those that plunder it economically and those with power, not real America.
28
Jake, everything you say is exactly true, exactly what we have become. Democracy is done. We the People are RULED (not governed) by an OLIGARCHY. And, IT IS BEING ALLOWED! What happened to checks and balances? What happened to THE LAW? I will tell you what happened: This was a coup, a hijacking of checks and balances, and of the law, by trump and the GOP. Now: WHY IS THIS BEING ALLOWED? WHO CAN STOP IT? Mueller may be able to stop ALL of it, but it will also require indictments of certain members of Congress, and the dismissal of GOP-shill judges who were immorally appointed.
4
It's very hurtful to see the nation that we grew up in, that gave us much more than we can give back, become an embarrassment, where it's no longer a badge of honor or pride to say you're an American when traveling abroad. Just to see the utter evil of one psychotic man who spends his time attacking and demeaning people, degrading our FBI and our intelligence people who put their lives on the line for our country, and attacking our free press and institutions while cheered by the GOP is revolting and disgusting. They serve no useful purpose to our government and should all be voted out of office. Not doing so means WE too are complicit in this by allowing it to continue. Too many have died protecting our nation and our democracy to now see it thrown under the bus for the wants of agenda that is betrays their ultimate sacrifice. This was never the America we wanted to leave our children and their children with. Our parents left us a better America, our children deserve even better than that.
1
Yes, again, you are right. But WE want to vote out these people who are corrupt, cruel, dishonest, and despicable. WE are not complicit in their agenda. Unfortunately, there ARE millions of voters who are. These are people who are either extremely wealthy, and only care for the tax cuts, or they are people who admire and agree with the racist, misogynist, xenophobic, hate and greed-fueled GOP agenda...or they are people who are both wealthy AND misanthropic. Our children and grandchildren deserve better than that, and SO DO WE.
1
Only the little PEOPLE pay taxes. Corporations, not so much. The results:
disaster for most, See KANSAS. Trickle down is the GOP beast that will NOT die, or actually work. Wake up, people. Please.
65
Mr. Maguire and Ms. Cheng succinctly represent everything wrong with corporate finance in general. Ethics run counterintuitive to the entire premise. Mr. Maguire is having fun teaching the IRS a lesson while Ms. Cheng is thinking of creative ways to cheat the rules. Never does the thought occur that they might have a civic responsibility to their national institutions. We're witnessing the tragedy of the commons written in petty overtures of greed. They'll enjoy a bonus.
Republicans of course don't care about carefully crafted legislation. Their explicit intent from the beginning was to undermine government revenues. I still don't understand why G.O.P. has such a chip on their shoulder about public finance. Gift baskets, whether assembled at home or in a warehouse, aren't going anywhere without roads. We tried private roads once before too. The result was a disaster. Republicans are trying the same idea with the internet right now. New dog, old tricks.
I'd really like to see Democrats advocate intelligent tax reform. Wagging the finger at Republicans without an alternative is the same thing as letting the house burn down instead of calling the fire department. Republicans learned this lesson with Obamacare. The fact that they could overhaul the tax code with less forethought is remarkable but unsurprising. Corporations are popping champagne bottles right now but the middle-class just went from being generally anti-Trump to being anti-Republican in general. Smart move G.O.P.
12
I have noticed that, as a loophole, used for years by the Oligarch's is publicized so ordinary citizens can now take advantage of it, it is suddenly closed.
A while later, when another loophole is exposed to the middle class, that loophole is also closed.
So now a new tax scam playground is needed to hide the "Loopholes for the Oligarch's" from the working people. The Oligarch's accountants are already clued in to all the scams. How many years will go by while the 9 to 5 and midnight shifts pay through the nose, as glutton Oligarch's, like Trump, get away with their grand theft scams ?
Want to see Oligarch Loopholes ???
Demand to see Trump's Tax returns. He is supposed to work for the public now. We have a right to keep a close eye on him. It begins with those tax returns he is hiding.
30
In principle, I support tax reform. In practice, this bill is a complete fail. (Or should I say it failed BIGLY?).
Rather than true reform - which would have evened the playing field by eliminating deductions and credits that provide preferential tax treatment to certain groups and dramatically lowering tax rates (also known as "Broad Base Low Rates"; or BBLR) there very modest reductions in rates and plenty of preferences. And perhaps worse, the same money is tax differently (that is, inequitably) depending on if is earned through wages or through ownership.
According the the IRS, total personal income was $9.916 trillion in 2014 (the last year that data was released). Total taxable income was $6.997 trillion, leaving 2.919 trillion (29%) taxed. Untaxed income disproportionally goes to people who people who use itemized deductions, which means the more wealthy. (For example, what justification is there for supporting a $750,000 mortgage with a 37% discount on taxes when someone who makes less money and borrows for a modest home get no tax discount?)
Had we really gone for BBLR, rates preferences would be eliminated and we could have been lowered by perhaps 25%.
6
so, let's see I go down to a craft store, buy a basket, wrapping paper, bows, gift tags and the like. I then go over to King Soopers, and buy a bunch of Oreos. I then set up a web site which sell Oreo Birthday Baskets. Charge 50% or more over what I paid; plus the customer pays shipping. I manufactured a product by putting all this stuff together, and I can deduct the whole mess.
Meanwhile, I work for a salary, or did until a month ago, and pay a higher tax than my fictional "business". On top of it all, in 2018, if I have a home office (required by employer), have to buy equipment (Computer hardware and software to do the job), Internet service (to do the job), computer books or take a technical course (to add to my knowledge); I no longer can deduct any of this.
What is wrong with this picture?
I hope the GOP gets drubbed next fall, and Trump gets impeached between now and then. And, that some sane people, who really work for the 99%, are voted into office. I hope their first act is to repeal this terrible tax law. The second act is to eliminate all private funding of campaigns, which created this mess. Too bad, all Democrat and Republican politician are self serving, greedy, crooks.
131
And a hearty AMEN to your statement, Nick. I get the feeling that people who actually work for a living, producing, are inconsequential because it seems that soon all jobs, except for maybe a retail clerk to monitor self-check-out, and trades, and of course management, will be outsourced overseas for pennies on the dollar, or done via automation.
I'm beginning to think the US worker better start forming small communities where we can take care of and do for ourselves, because as workers and consumers, we do not count except at the ballot box, and even that is a mere formality. Thanks to Citizens United, and the now gold plated swamp in DC, working people are an unfortunate inconvenience for the oligarchy that rules us.
17
@Nick Metrowsky: Yes, our ongoing tax ripoffs and "tyranny of the minority" are directly linked to Citizens United. Unless, and until, the donor class is prevented from buying off politicians and new leaders get elected with the express mandate to rescind rules that directly benefit richest, democracy will continue to fade from our eyes like the fumes of Trump's private plane.
20
The 500+ page bill (now law) is being hailed by Republicans as the first major tax reform in over 30 years. But few have read the law, and fewer still understand what it all means. Would it not be better to "reform" or revise our tax laws little by little? That way we would have a better chance of understanding the changes, and of seeing the effects of each small set of changes. Changing just 20 pages of tax law per year over a period of 30 years would IMHO be preferable to a 600 page change in one fell swoop.
18
Under the best of circumstances new tax legislation produces the opportunity for unintended windfalls to taxpayers who act with the aid of professionals or aided only by their wild imaginations. This then requires remedial legislation by Congress in subsequent years. This legislation that was cobbled together in the dark without resort to normal legislative processes will surely prove itself to be a permiable as would s three foot high picket fence on a national border. There is a reason why good tax legislation takes many months to put together. This Congress did not provide us with good tax legislation.
13
This definitely is NOT a tax simplification bill. Just try and make sense of the new line it attempts to draw between self-employed people who offer "services" (who don't get a pass-through break) and those who run "businesses" (who do get a pass-through break). Are self-employed electricians who installs equipment they carry in their truck (wires, circuit breakers, switches) in a different business than those who install customer-supplied equipment? It's going to mean more work for lawyers and accountants and more headaches for the rest of us.
20
I’ll eagerly await the follow up article that covers ultra rich Democrats who choose to not take advantage of these new loopholes and pay full freight on their taxes.
5
Why should they? Isn't the idea that everyone should play by the same rules? Why should rich democrats subsidize rich republicans? The point is that the rules are unfair and should change.
14
Yes, this bill has certainly put hypocrisy under a spotlight, never more so than in the high tax states where certain deductions are being lost. Normally, they are brimming with certainty about the merits of paying taxes. Now, losing their SALT deductions, they are raging against the machine.
They have nothing good to say about a bill that helps small businesses and middle income families with children, a position that exposes their lack of concern for average Americans.
And your point is? Was it the ultra rich Democrats or ultra rich Republicans who bought and paid for the legislators who passed this bill?
2
How could there be loopholes in such a well-thought out bill that survived days of scrutiny, except maybe the handwritten parts.
75
The napkin clauses?
1
This is the first article that I have seen in the NYTimes that properly defines and explains a tax loophole. That is a provisions of the tax code that are ambiguous and produce unintended results.
A preference written in to the tax code that reduces taxes, whether for buying an electric car or deducting accelerated depreciation, is not a loophole.
The majority of the news media has been shoddy in the use of the term tax loophole when reporting on the taxes likening any preference as a loophole.
18
"The problem, for the government, was that its lawyers didn’t have much to stand on. The deduction’s regulations explicitly defined manufacturing as “combining or assembling two or more articles.”"
Ah, the stupidity (or cupidity) of Congress. If manufacturing is assembling two or more articles, I could claim deductions for home-made Christmas cards, under that scenario. Wish I had know about it!
My take on the new tax ripoff is that the "pass-throughs" will be exploited for maximum gain--eg, who and what constitutes a small business entity.
As for the IRS, well after prepaying two quarters of 2018 real estate taxes yesterday, it was sure great news to read that the government warns against it--with just 3 days left in the year.
I'm pretty sure I'm OK, but if not, well there will be lawsuits over this.
You know who benefits from this tax bill the very very most? Lawyers and tax accountants, that's who. The very people who set the rules for others, get to define them on an ongoing basis.
37
Sorry about your tax problems. Wouldn't it be grand to know that corporations and LLC's can also only deduct $10,000 in state and local taxes? Don't hold your breath . . . .
4
Ah, the stupidity (or cupidity) of Congress. If manufacturing is assembling two or more articles, I could claim deductions for home-made Christmas cards, under that scenario. Wish I had know about it!
You should not be so cheap. If you hired a competent professional you would have known about it. Do you perform all your medical diagnosis yourself? to save the cost of a doctor.
The loopholes and ability to game are huge in this rushed, poorly planned, hastily worded bill. The experts will quickly find the flaws and the treasury will plummet as early as March 2018 and continue to do so to the alarm for all but those on Fox News
20
Always best to remember when discussing taxes that it's the taxpayers' money to begin with. The government's sense of entitlement to it is bottomless. Taxpayers will always seek ways around government's long reach. Can't blame them.
7
Must be nice there on your island. Don't feel you need to leave.
5
Taxes are how you pay for a democracy.
3
You mean the government that allows us to have an orderly society and prosper? The government of, by, and for the people?
If you don't like a functioning government there's always South Sudan. Send us a postcard.
2
When you invite hundreds of lobbyists to participate in writing this tax scam how can you not expect hundreds of loopholes?
94
And don't forget - trumpkin is busy appointing the judges who will rule on these lawsuits.
66
Once upon a time, there were federal tax policies and deductions that benefitted ALL Americans, especially the Middle Class (that created the prosperity we all once enjoyed).
As I said, "Once upon a time....".
43
The government is already providing "benefits" to the 45% of Americans who pay no federal taxes. Just because the rich benefit, doesn't mean the middle class doesn't. Tax savings are proportional to the percentage of total US taxes paid by taxpayers.
A $2K tax credit per child is a benefit to the middle class, period. It is a new benefit to millions who were not able to take it because of it phased out at $110K. It doubles the old child tax credit and allows families who don't have a big enough tax liability to take advantage of it to get up to a $1400 refund.
3
As much as I want to see a Democrat win in 2020, I'd almost like to see a Republican have to deal with what they've wrought here. No money for anything and having to raise taxes across the board. They always know the Democrats have to clean up and then take the blame when they start their lying about "fault."
44
No problem. Even if they win big in 2018 and 2020 they will still blame it on Obama or Clinton. And never deal with it but just leave a mess for the eventual Democrats to clean up.
7
What are you talking about when you write, "having to raise taxes across the board"? The NYT has reported that 3/4 of taxpayers will see a reduction in their taxes as a result of this bill.
Anyone expecting the democrats to win big because of negative tax consequences is deluding him/herself. This bill benefits taxpayers in every income bracket.
The tax cut to individuals is temporary. The one to business is permanent. They're kicking the can down the road again. Maybe they won't raise taxes--just cut Social Security and Medicare, which are supposed to be separate but aren't.
I was thumbing through the new tax law when I stumbled across a provision that granted a tax write off on "Purchases of 1 lb or more of Beluga Caviar".
That must be one of those loophole things you're writing about.
56
That would not be a loophole but a tax preference like giving a rebate for buying electric vehicles. A loophole would be finding a way to use the write off for buying Michigan whitefish.
3
I hope you are kidding!
In this bizarro world ruled by trump's insanity and republican greed, where one's sense of irony is undermined by reality and sarcasm detectors no longer function properly....I have to ask: is there actually such a clause in the tax bill?!
1
Trump and the Republicans had a chance to actually deliver their long time promise of giving the working man the forgotten man the benefits and attention they deserve.
Instead they did with this tax bill was what they always do, hand out our treasure for the rich, corporations and now tax loopholes that hide in this bill waiting to be found.
The deficit will explode and not a nickel for infrastructure, for children’s healthcare, and also broke the promise not to cut Medicare.
The takeaway here is just what I expected except a new military conflict which is probably in the works, being held back in case Americans realize they have once again been shafted by the Republicans.
26
WHen McCain stood up for “regular order” to derail repeal and replace, we had a moment of sanity,a plea for a fair and open process. The tax bill's process was much worse, do the outcome will be much worse. Where were the demands for open hearings, testimony from a variety of witnesses—economists, businesses, accountants? I wonder what an economist or even town mayor from Kansas would have said.
This bill offers visible harm to many. The as yet unknown harm will likely be even worse. Citizens United must be very pleased with their republican lackeys.
26
I just prepaid my first qtr. 2018 property tax through our town's online procedure. The fact that people in high-tax, mostly "blue" states, have to scramble and take these steps during the last few days of the year is a monumental disgrace and a truly "sad" commentary on the horrific state the decrepit Republican Congress and President have put us in. This is the stuff of third-world, banana republics run by oligarchies beholden only to the massive donor parties. Republicans want to cripple the IRS in any event, so really, where do we stand as a populace, trying to coalesce for the common good? Does anyone who voted for Trump truly believe anything he says? Most people don't know about the "carried interest" preference for hedge fund mgrs. et al. Trump promised to eliminate it, but it was certainly kept in the final tax bill. Maybe his supporters will think about that as they run in circles trying to get in last-second tax payments to avoid the new law.
17
And according to another article today, even that prepaying your property taxes will not help in unless they were assessed this year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/business/prepaying-your-property-taxe...®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Home%20Page&pgtype=article
You do realize you are taking advantage of the tax bill language like millions of other taxpayers? Your wanting to save on your taxes is no different from theirs.
This so-called "saving" is a device "forced" upon us due to a lobbyist-written tax law that overwhelmingly favors corporations and those at the very top of the financial pecking order who will reap enormous tax savings at the expense of the vast middle class? Do you realize that if you have enough deductions to itemize next year that you will still lose your personal exemption and those of your spouse and children? Do you realize how this will affect those who are limited to a $10,000 "SALT" deduction when it comes time to perhaps make a charitable contribution that won't give you a tax deduction anymore if you don't itemize? As Warren Buffett famously said in referring to the carried interest tax preference for hedge fund and private equity managers, "Why does my secretary pay taxes at a higher rate than me?" Well, that is still the case.
Taxes are for more than raising revenue. They can change the shape of economic activity and growth and even alter the distribution of wealth over time. Our current system is badly skewed to promote inequality of condition.
That inequality is the product of a process of developing laws and the regulations to interpret them that is deeply flawed. No one would organize a corporation with such a division between setting the organization’s goals and the methods to achieve them. Granted, the federal government was purposely set up not to be efficient, but the tax laws are honey-baited traps for gaming the system rather than achieving specific economic goals.
Let’s not just bemoan the mischief these laws spawn, we should have a conversation about how to develop better tax laws and regulations in the first place. The first order of business should be a cooling off period in Congress, preventing the ramming through of legislation in the dead of night before anyone can evaluate it. Let’s slow the process down and open it to the light before voting on final passage. Let the economists and tax lawyers weigh in on its provisions to see if it can hope to achieve the impact desired.
Sunlight is more than a disinfectant, it also promotes growth. We need both for a healthy tax system.
49
"Taxes are for more than raising revenue. They can change the shape of economic activity and growth and even alter the distribution of wealth over time. Our current system is badly skewed to promote inequality of condition."
Taxes should be used for funding the legitimate functions of government, not redistribution of wealth and social engineering. Taxation should be much simpler as well.
The new poorly written Trump GOP tax bill presents tax attorneys and accountants with a cornucopia of opportunities for tax avoidance for the rich and large corporations. It’s no surprise, and the massive deficit arising from this regressive legislation will surely exceed $2 trillion.
Using this debt as a pretext will allow the Trump GOP to seek to take away more benefits from the elderly and poor: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and God knows what else.
49
If people can think of something new to avoid paying tax or reduce the amount of paying, I am sure a company can do more than that. With AI becomes the norm, company can use that technology to cross examine the many actual cases in the past against the new rules & regulations. I am sure new interpretation of the tax cuts will come to light and shine the carelessness & laziness of the congress when they made the laws. One also can say that it is a gift from president Trump to keep accountants, tax lawyers, business owners, and company board members excited about the new year full of anticipation.
9
Bottom line is that if you are a person holding a job that has a W-2 income and have savings and investments with 1099 statements you are not going to have any loop holes to use. On top of this he or she pays social security and medicare taxes on earned income for which one may see reduced future benefits if the Republicans execute their step 2 of "reducing the deficit" that they have created by giving the tax breaks to the rich and keeping these loop holes. In the mean time the working guy will see a meager reduction in the W-2 withholding in 2018 (which is slated to disappear in a few years) and will be told by Ryan and co that they have delivered on Trump's promise to the middle class-- blunting any Democratic criticism of the tax reform bill. This will keep their foothold for the 2018 midterm elections. Democrats better not get complacent or hyperbolic in their message in 2018 -- or else they will repeat their 2016 debacle. Frank Bruni had a good opinion column on this very point.
139
@Sam
Mr. Bruni seemed to think we were 'freaking out' too much, too much outrage he thought. Overall his column seemed to suggest sit down and shut up. But maybe Mr. Bruni and many others have forgotten what citizen engagement looks like considering the usual citizen apathy. I remember the 'outrage' of the 60s and so I am not of the opinion that his column was a good one.
1
The bill is less complex than the existing law. We need a tax cut and tax simplification EVERY YEAR.
Everytime we cut taxes we increase personal freedom and personal responsibility. The 2 hallmarks of American ingenuity, excellence and pioneer spirit.
8
Every time we cut taxes and deregulate corporations we lose our freedom and liberty. Corporations exist to make money for the shareholders. Corporations may be people too, as Mitt Romney told us, but they are greedy people. Product safety, employee health and safety and environmental protections with a fair tax extracted to pay for those regulations is the only way to make corporations behave responsibly.
75
And that didn't happen under Truman and Eisenhower?
6
Failing roads, bridges, dams, transport, educational systems and more - the sad sound of American freedom.
35
A better name for this bill is "The Tax Lawyers and Accountants Full Employment Act of 2017."
It is really a JOBS bill, just not for coal miners or factory workers in the Rust Belt.
170
Lobbyist and Lawyers that are elected Congressional members, are well aware of the loopholes as this new Tax Code was written. One cannot help but make the connection that the advantages to business and their ability to adapt to the new rules were in plain sight. That is exactly why so many voiced concerns. As a historical perspective, Republicans controlled Congress for quite some time before the Great Depression. There was tremendous expansion in our economy known as the “ roaring twenties. “ There is a correlation to the “roaring” stock market of today. In the 1920’s Treasury Secretary Mellon moved to cut tax rates . It should not be lost on Readers that, like the present Administration Appointments, Mellon was a Millionaire businessman who’s philosophy was of debt reduction, tax reduction and a balanced budget. It appears we have failed to understand our own history are are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
31
The best new loopholes could be made by state legislatures if they allow 85% credit against income taxes for "charitable contributions" to the state coffers. The states would increase their revenues by 15% and taxpayers would benefit by being able to get a write off for their state taxes again.
35
Yes, but charitable contributions cannot be made mandatory... although there might be a creative loophole around that too...
4
If you have a fair number of resources and a good tax attorney you can benefit from loopholes. If you own a house in New York and have two kids in college, you can sink under the weight of reform.
And that is the goal. The expectation is that the GOP cannot lose my vote, since my state is safely Democratic anyhow. The seats it might lose the further upstate you wander are probably safe, because they are not in high cost of living areas of the state, and have less impact than in the suburbs and city, and will not suffer enough to break the strong GOP identity. I have neither a vote to give, nor lobby money, so I can be tossed under the bus.
This Congress was never trying to reform taxes, or even cut them. This Congress was buying power. I just don't happen to have any to sell.
So the unexpected loopholes? They are expected. They are gifts left, like in a treasure hunt, for the well connected to find. Just don't expect any company to use them to help raise wages or hire more people. Look to see a banner year in executive bonuses.
422
You might be surprised at what the Trump Administration is doing to lose those 'safe votes'. This was a fascinating article focusing on the USDA about the law of (un)intended consequences in the Administration's drive to 'cut government spending'. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/usda-food-stamps-school-lunch-tr...
3
Cathy appears to be one of the few who really gets it: the huge populations in “safe” Democratic states have effectively been disenfranchised by both the Electoral College and the non-population weighted Senate. The system was designed to protect the interests of the smaller of the original thirteen states, but with dozens of sparsely populated states amongst the 50 in 2017, these states can effectively conduct a tyranny over the large population centers.
The GOP have figured out that a new wave of migration from the coasts to the south after these tax changes will keep them in power for generations. We have re-fought the Civil War without a shot being fired, and this time the old Confederacy has won.
5
Yes, they were openly pursuing economic warfare against Democratic states --as Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation crowed, "This bill is death to Democrats." It is unfair and I am hoping our high tax states that transfer all too much money already to the Red States who benefit from our money and then yell about "welfare" will figure out clever ways to stanch the money flow to them. Maybe slowing the transfers to a crawl?
1
Appears "America First" never really trumps "me first". How common it is to see 'love of country' abiding alongside utter resentment of the IRS, and commitment to "Make America Great Again" sees no contradiction whatsoever in exploiting every law one can to avoid paying one's fair share of taxes.
125
Simplifying the tax code? Well, I guess it's in our nature to interpret and justify in order to suit ourselves. But this will. To make us happier as individuals or as a society. This sounds like an addiction to me.
5
Unintended consequences are the bane of our law-making system. Too often, we rush the process to achieve some lofty goal and forget details. The new tax law is a great example of this flawed process. The really unfortunate part of this new law is that some of the negative consequences were built into the law on purpose. We are in for a bumpy road for a while.
51
With no hearings, and with lobbyist-dictated words scribbled in margins, the Republicans have made clear that they just don't care, as long as they reward their donors.
As Republican of New York Chris Collins said before voting for the bill, " “My donors are basically saying, 'Get it done or don't ever call me again,' ”
[By the way: Isn't Collins' vote for the bill in light of that statement evidence of a quid pro quo illegal bribe even after the shameless Citizens United and McCutcheon rulings by Republicans on the Supreme Court?]
503
@Lynn,
I have made the same comment over and over again about Chris Collins. It's time that the NYS attorney general takes a look into Collins and his pay to play scheme. NYT has done zero investigation of Collins, his statement and his vote.
7
One person's comment about his donors does not make this true for everyone. This is exactly the kind of cherrypicking partisans engage in to prove they're right. (Talk about shameless.)
Your argument just doesn't hold up under objective scrutiny. Millions of small businesses will be helped by the lower pass-through rate. Ditto for families now receiving a $2K *credit*. By only focusing on corporations and the rich, you ignore a majority of the middle class.
1
Reply to AACNY
1) It certainly does make it true for Collins who, as Steve pointed out, needs to be investigated by the AG
2) It certainly is not just Collins. Lindsay Graham said, "financial contributions will stop" for the GOP if they don't vote yes on this bill.
3) Those are the only 2 specific bribe comments I happened to come across in the press. I assume there are others
4) I assume that there are even more such comments said in private---
12
Between the dynamic scoring and the unknown loopholes, republicans should have never been able to get away with saying the tax bill would cost under $1.5 trillion; thus needing only 50 votes to pass.
231
Are you one of the majority of Americans who oppose this bill? Are you opposed to what The Con Don and his Robber Baron/pretend christian brethren are doing to OUR environment and OUR human/social/economic rights? Are you ready to take action?
The weekend of January 20/21 is shaping up to be National Protest Weekend. A Women's March 2018 is scheduled for Saturday, January 20 and events are planned across America for January 21. Mark your calendar and get out there. We need 300 MILLION people acting in unison to protest this corrupt regime.
NOW is the time.
Here are some links to information:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/WomensMarch2018USA/events/
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/28/1728028/-CUA-Events-Women-s-...
5
Read another way, that's the point. Once they breach that number, they can go after your Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They're salivating at the prospect. The glee in Ryan's demeanor is nauseating.
5
Where was the media on that???
2
One thing you can always count on is the law of unintended consequence. I have no idea what will happen under this new tax bill, but I guarantee that it is unlikely to do what congress intended. What is clear, is that this is not a simplification or meaningful reform in any way. It is a reshuffling at best, with carve outs for special interests and corporations sold with a temporary token gift to the middle class to make us feel better for a few years until we blame the 46th president for our taxes going up when this all expires. We are sheep and the wolves are guarding the flock.
291
Their ways never ever worked so not knowing the consequence is a cop out.
7
The many loopholes that further benefit the wealthy is exactly as the GOP Congress intended. The only thing that will surprise them will be the extent of the opportunities they've created for tax attorneys to exploit.
95
The supposed 'law of unintended consequences' is, I suspect, mostly an excuse for either insufficient analysis or, more likely, well understood consequences that would not have been popular had they been made public.
One example is the likely impact 'tax reform' will have on social security and medicare.
1