Senate Passes Sweeping Republican Tax Overhaul Bill

[CS1983]

I wish it were that easy- have you tried to get to Lakewood from Brighton without using interstates? It could take days...

I do my best to stay away from the entire Denver metro area at all costs.

Even COS is starting to feel "big city". When we do have to go to the metro area we remember why we no longer live there.

[Eric P]

I wish the feds would just end all tax deductions and credits. They have no place for social engineering or encouraging behavior.

Simple tax formula. Enter gross income. Multiply that by X%, that is the tax you pay. Same X for all incomes, individual and business.

[Ronin13]

So it looks like it's going to head to POTUS's desk. And a lot of companies are giving out bonuses. And would you look at that, Wells Fargo and Fifth Third Bancorp are both raising their minimum wage to $15/hr. Trump didn't even need to sign a law for that!

Anyone wanna take bets on if the dems will eat crow if the world doesn't end due to the tax bill? I'll drop $5 and say they won't.

[Irving]

Politics are so partisan that it's impossible for the left/right to ever admit something is beneficial if not from "their guy". Swap shoes and they would be LOVING IT while sipping frappes in Starbucks, though. Same is true of most conservatives - if Obama ever did something right (I'd have to think awhile) they'd still hate it.

I don't know if it was "right" but the tax breaks for first time home buyers during the Obama administration were sure helpful for when we bought our first house. It was one of those things where people in the know were worried about them causing another housing bubble collapse like in 2008, but saying that you might as well take full advantage of the situation, which I did.

[bkincaid]

I keep hearing the democrackpots harping about this tax cut raising the federal debt. How about they try cutting some of the entitlement programs as a means to not increase debt? Loss of tax revenue being blamed for raising debt, really????

[Ronin13]

I keep hearing the democrackpots harping about this tax cut raising the federal debt. How about they try cutting some of the entitlement programs as a means to not increase debt? Loss of tax revenue being blamed for raising debt, really????

They're worried that along with cutting taxes, the republicans are going to start reduction in spending by cutting entitlements, medicare, and other spending cuts. Trump has already reduced a few agencies to the extent he can and is working to make cuts where possible that are unnecessary.

[DenverGP]

So 99% of these tax changes will go into effect in 2018, which means they do not apply when filing our 2017 taxes.

Because of the increase in the standard deduction, many people who itemized up until now will be better off taking the standard deduction when filing your 2018 taxes in 2019.

That means you might save yourself a bit if you can accelerate some end-of-year things:

- Make any planned 2018 charitable contributions before the end of 2017, while they can still be useful deductions.
- Make your january mortgage payment in december, giving you an extra month worth of mortgage deduction for 2017.

I've even seen the suggestion that if you can afford it, increase your 401k to the max for the final 2017 paycheck, then turn off the 401k contribution for the first 2018 paycheck, to slightly reduce 2017 earnings, and get the money back in 2018 subject to the lower tax rate.

I'm doing the first two things, don't think I'm messing with the 401k contribs.

[CS1983]

mortgage interest -- thought this was still in effect up to 750k? Did they remove it completely as a deduction in the final draft??

eta: I also thought it was separate from itemized deductions? Was I incorrect on this?

[Irving]

I thought it was unchanged, so maybe that suggestion is just to get the most out of 2017. Seems like all the mortgages I've ever had were due the first, so you're likely paying Jan in December anyway.

[Ronin13]

mortgage interest -- thought this was still in effect up to 750k? Did they remove it completely as a deduction in the final draft??

eta: I also thought it was separate from itemized deductions? Was I incorrect on this?

I've been told it's all rolled into the standard deduction- $12,000 for single, $24,000 for joint/married. So you just take the standard deduction if everything falls under that, otherwise itemize, say if you have $14,000 in deductions for single. My dad, being single, will probably still itemize because he'll break the $12K mark, but my wife and I will more than likely not go over $16K, so we'll take the standard deduction.