That’s true. I’m also wondering if the current rates are so low right now that strategies assuming being in a lower bracket after retiring might need reconsideration. Especially if a blue wave materializes that requires tax revenue for all that expensive free stuff.Originally Posted by dmc
I know! Isnt it $12,000 now, the standard deduction? Yowza does thatb simplify things.
$13,000 I think.
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein
In 2018, it's $12,000 for single filers and married filers filing separately, $24,000 for married filers filing jointly and $18,000 for heads of household.
For frame of reference: The standard deduction for single taxpayers and married couples filing separately is$6,350 in 2017, up from $6,300 in 2016; for married couples filing jointly, the standard deduction is $12,700, up $100 from the prior year; and for heads of households, the standard deduction is $9,350 for 2017, up from $9,300.
I have seen some recommend putting interest bearing investments into tax deferred retirement accounts since interest compounds and is taxed as regular income, with investments in regular accounts in equities where capital gains are taxed at a lower rate. I can vaguely follow the logic, but not practical for everyone. It seems to assume a person has a lot of money to invest.
I like a lot of services provided by government and I feel that it is my responsibility to pay my share. I could understand an anti tax perspective if I lived in New Jersey as I spent almost $9.00 on tolls to drive from NYC to New Brunswick and they have extremely high property and income tax. Paying the high tolls makes this California dweller feel not so bad about taxes
I'm with you. I want emergency services, fire services, police services, the roads, the parks.....I can't imagine there are many people in this country that would prefer that NONE of these exist. Too bad so many do not want to help pay for them
In my experience there's nothing like living someplace else to make one appreciate elements of where one lives. When I moved from New York to Minnesota, I was moving from one high-tax locale to another. But, in Minnesota, I actually got to see my taxes at work. Beautiful clean parks with amenities; a Department of Motor Vehicles at which the employees were not surly and (gasp!) were available at largely-retail hours so I didn't have to take time off work to renew my driver's license; nicely-equipped libraries; well-maintained streets (well, at the time) considering the punishment they get each winter;...
Not that high taxes should go unchallenged. Property taxes in our city have gone up about one third over the last two years. Part of that is a result of a court decision that declared a previous mayoralty's "fees" ("We've never raised taxes! Hooray for us!! Vote Quimby!") really should have been collected as taxes. But part of it is due to a level of spending on municipal gazingus pins (streetcars, city-wide garbage collection [rather than regulated private haulers]) that I and many other residents have fought against as being chosen without due diligence. I don't mind writing big checks when I feel I'm getting my money's worth; I don't like to write blank checks.
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington
I just went to a workshop on this. As the personal deduction is higher, it no longer makes sense for most people to itemize. I generally avoid financial stuff, so this was a surprise to me. I'm looking at creating a donor advised fund this year.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” -- Gandalf
We wont itemize when we file. But I am guessing DH will continue with our protocol for identifying deductible expenses because 1) habit 2) what ifs as in what if the tax law,changes down the road.
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