Trump’s tax plan penalizes single parents

[applegrove]

Trump’s tax plan penalizes single parents

by Harry Stein at Think Progress

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-tax-single-parents-caccee81cdff

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Even with recent changes, Donald Trump’s new tax plan is still a huge giveaway to the rich. But there may be one loser in particular: single parents. Despite his claim that everyone will get a tax cut, under Trump’s tax plan, some single parents would see their taxes go up by more than $1,000.

Trump is raising taxes in three ways. First, Trump gets rid of the head of household filing status, which is currently available to single parents and some other unmarried taxpayers who care for another person. Under current law, filing as a head of household reduces someone’s tax bill by lowering the amount of their income that is subject to taxes. It does this by giving them a larger standard deduction than single filers. The standard deduction is a tax deduction set at a fixed amount available to taxpayers who do not itemize deductions such as mortgage interest and charitable contributions. A larger standard deduction means less taxable income, and therefore a lower tax bill. Head of household filers also get a different set of tax brackets than single filers, which increases how much income they can earn before their money starts getting taxed at higher rates.

Under the Trump plan, unmarried parents have to file as single. The most important impact of this change is to significantly reduce the benefit from Trump’s higher standard deduction, which is the most significant way that Trump is claiming to lower taxes for ordinary Americans.

Second, Trump gets rid of personal exemptions, which are another type of tax deduction. Taxpayers get a personal exemption for each person in their household, including themselves and their dependents, and each one lowers how much of their income will be taxed. In 2016, the personal exemption is $4,050, so for a family of two this means that $8,100 of their income will not be subject to federal income taxes.


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[Ilsa]

1. Shame on him, picking on single moms and dads,

just so he can give his rich buddies more money.