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The Tax Policy Center's

Briefing Book

A citizen’s guide to the fascinating (though often complex) elements of the US tax system.

Tax Policy Center Briefing Book

Some Background

  • Briefing Book
  • Recent History of the Tax Code
  • How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act change personal taxes?
  • Chapters
    • Introduction
      • Introduction
        • Introduction
    • Some Background
      • Federal Budget
        • What are the sources of revenue for the federal government?
        • How does the federal government spend its money?
        • What is the breakdown of revenues among federal, state, and local governments?
        • How do US taxes compare internationally?
      • Federal Budget Process
        • How does the federal budget process work?
        • What is the history of the federal budget process?
        • What is the schedule for the federal budget process?
        • What is reconciliation?
        • How is a budget resolution enforced?
        • What is PAYGO?
        • What are rescissions?
      • Federal Budget Outlook
        • How accurate are long-run budget projections?
        • What have budget trends been over the short and long term?
        • How much spending is uncontrollable?
        • What are tax extenders?
        • What options would increase federal revenues?
        • What does it mean for a government program to be off-budget?
        • How did the TCJA affect the federal budget outlook?
      • Taxes and the Economy
        • How do taxes affect the economy in the short run?
        • How do taxes affect the economy in the long run?
        • What are dynamic scoring and dynamic analysis?
        • Do tax cuts pay for themselves?
        • On what do economists agree and disagree about the effects of taxes on economic growth?
        • What are the economic effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act?
      • Economic Stimulus
        • What is the role of monetary policy in alleviating economic downturns?
        • What are automatic stabilizers and how do they work?
        • What characteristics make fiscal stimulus most effective?
      • Distribution of Tax Burdens
        • How are federal taxes distributed?
        • Are federal taxes progressive?
        • How should progressivity be measured?
        • What is the difference between marginal and average tax rates?
        • What criticisms are levied against standard distributional analysis?
        • How should distributional tables be interpreted?
        • Who bears the burden of the corporate income tax?
        • Who bears the burden of federal excise taxes?
        • How do financing methods affect the distributional analyses of tax cuts?
        • How do taxes affect income inequality?
      • Tax Expenditures
        • What are tax expenditures and how are they structured?
        • What is the tax expenditure budget?
        • Why are tax expenditures controversial?
        • What are the largest tax expenditures?
        • How did the TCJA affect tax expenditures?
      • Tax Gap and Tax Shelters
        • What is the tax gap?
        • What does the IRS do and how can it be improved?
        • What is a tax shelter?
      • Recent History of the Tax Code
        • What did the 2008–10 tax stimulus acts do?
        • What did the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 do?
        • How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act change personal taxes?
        • How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act change business taxes?
    • Key Elements of the U.S. Tax System
      • Individual Income Tax
        • What is the standard deduction?
        • What are itemized deductions and who claims them?
        • How did the TCJA change the standard deduction and itemized deductions?
        • What are personal exemptions?
        • How do federal income tax rates work?
        • What are tax credits and how do they differ from tax deductions?
        • How do phaseouts of tax provisions affect taxpayers?
      • Capital Gains and Dividends
        • How are capital gains taxed?
        • What is the effect of a lower tax rate for capital gains?
        • What is carried interest, and how is it taxed?
        • How might the taxation of capital gains be improved?
      • AMT
        • What is the AMT?
        • Who pays the AMT?
        • How much revenue does the AMT raise?
        • How did the TCJA change the AMT?
      • Taxes and the Family
        • What is the child tax credit?
        • What is the adoption tax credit?
        • What is the earned income tax credit?
        • Do all people eligible for the EITC participate?
        • How does the tax system subsidize child care expenses?
        • What are marriage penalties and bonuses?
        • How did the TCJA change taxes of families with children?
      • Taxes and the Poor
        • How does the federal tax system affect low-income households?
        • What is the difference between refundable and nonrefundable credits?
        • Can poor families benefit from the child tax credit?
        • Why do low-income families use tax preparers?
        • How does the earned income tax credit affect poor families?
        • What are error rates for refundable credits and what causes them?
        • How do IRS audits affect low-income families?
      • Taxes and Retirement Saving
        • What kinds of tax-favored retirement arrangements are there?
        • How large are the tax expenditures for retirement saving?
        • What are defined benefit retirement plans?
        • What are defined contribution retirement plans?
        • What types of nonemployer-sponsored retirement savings accounts are available?
        • What are Roth individual retirement accounts?
        • Who uses individual retirement accounts?
        • How does the availability of tax-favored retirement saving affect national saving?
        • What’s the difference between front-loaded and back-loaded retirement accounts?
        • What is an automatic 401(k)?
        • How might low- and middle-income households be encouraged to save?
      • Taxes and Charitable Giving
        • What is the tax treatment of charitable contributions?
        • What entities are tax-exempt?
        • Who benefits from the deduction for charitable contributions?
        • How would various proposals affect incentives for charitable giving?
        • How large are individual income tax incentives for charitable giving?
        • How did the TCJA affect incentives for charitable giving?
      • Taxes and Health Care
        • How much does the federal government spend on health care?
        • Who has health insurance coverage?
        • Which tax provisions subsidize the cost of health care?
        • How does the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance work?
        • What are premium tax credits?
        • What tax changes did the Affordable Care Act make?
        • How do health savings accounts work?
        • How do flexible spending accounts for health care expenses work?
        • What are health reimbursement arrangements and how do they work?
        • How might the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) be reformed?
      • Taxes and Homeownership
        • What are the tax benefits of homeownership?
        • Do existing tax incentives increase homeownership?
      • Taxes and Education
        • What tax incentives exist for higher education?
        • What tax incentives exist to help families pay for college?
        • What tax incentives exist to help families save for education expenses?
        • What is the tax treatment of college and university endowments?
      • Tax Complexity
        • Why are taxes so complicated?
        • What are the benefits of simpler taxes?
        • What policy reforms could simplify the tax code?
      • Wealth Transfer Taxes
        • How do the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes work?
        • Who pays the estate tax?
        • How many people pay the estate tax?
        • What is the difference between carryover basis and a step-up in basis?
        • How could we reform the estate tax?
        • What are the options for taxing wealth transfers?
        • What is an inheritance tax?
      • Payroll Taxes
        • What are the major federal payroll taxes, and how much money do they raise?
        • What is the unemployment insurance trust fund, and how is it financed?
        • What are the Social Security trust funds, and how are they financed?
        • Are the Social Security trust funds real?
        • What is the Medicare trust fund, and how is it financed?
      • Excise Taxes
        • What are the major federal excise taxes, and how much money do they raise?
        • What is the Highway Trust Fund, and how is it financed?
      • Energy and Environmental Taxes
        • What tax incentives encourage energy production from fossil fuels?
        • What tax incentives encourage alternatives to fossil fuels?
        • What is a carbon tax?
      • Business Taxes
        • How does the corporate income tax work?
        • What are pass-through businesses?
        • How are pass-through businesses taxed?
        • Is corporate income double-taxed?
      • Tax Incentives for Economic Development
        • What is the new markets tax credit, and how does it work?
        • What is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and how does it work?
        • What are Opportunity Zones and how do they work?
      • Taxes and Multinational Corporations
        • How does the current system of international taxation work?
        • How do US corporate income tax rates and revenues compare with other countries’?
        • What are the consequences of the new US international tax system?
        • How does the tax system affect US competitiveness?
        • How would formulary apportionment work?
        • What are inversions, and how will TCJA affect them?
        • What is a territorial tax and does the United States have one now?
        • What is the TCJA repatriation tax and how does it work?
        • What is the TCJA base erosion and anti-abuse tax and how does it work?
        • What is global intangible low-taxed income and how is it taxed under the TCJA?
        • What is foreign-derived intangible income and how is it taxed under the TCJA?
    • How Could We Improve the Federal Tax System?
      • Comprehensive Tax Reform
        • What is comprehensive tax reform?
        • What are the major options for comprehensive tax reform?
      • Broad-Based Income Tax
        • What is a broad-based income tax?
        • What would and would not be taxed under a broad-based income tax?
        • What would the tax rate be under a broad-based income tax?
      • National Retail Sales Tax
        • What is a national retail sales tax?
        • What would and would not be taxed under a national retail sales tax?
        • What would the tax rate be under a national retail sales tax?
        • What is the difference between a tax-exclusive and tax-inclusive sales tax rate?
        • Who bears the burden of a national retail sales tax?
        • Would tax evasion and avoidance be a significant problem for a national retail sales tax?
        • What would be the effect of a national retail sales tax on economic growth?
        • What transition rules would be needed for a national retail sales tax?
        • Would a national retail sales tax simplify the tax code?
        • What can state and local sales taxes tell us about a national retail sales tax?
        • What is the experience of other countries with national retail sales taxes?
        • What did the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform say about the national retail sales tax?
      • Value Added Tax (VAT)
        • What is a VAT?
        • How would a VAT be collected?
        • What would and would not be taxed under a VAT?
        • What would the tax rate be under a VAT?
        • What is the difference between zero rating and exempting a good in the VAT?
        • Who would bear the burden of a VAT?
        • Is the VAT a money machine?
        • How would small businesses be treated under a VAT?
        • What is the Canadian experience with a VAT?
        • Why is the VAT administratively superior to a retail sales tax?
        • What is the history of the VAT?
        • How are different consumption taxes related?
      • Other Comprehensive Tax Reforms
        • What is the flat tax?
        • What is the X-tax?
      • Recent Comprehensive Tax Reform Proposals
        • Simple, Fair, and Pro-Growth: Proposals to Fix America’s Tax System, Report of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, November 2005
        • The Moment of Truth: Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, December 2010
        • Debt Reduction Task Force, “Restoring America’s Future,” Bipartisan Policy Center, November 2010
        • The Tax Reform Act of 2014: Fixing Our Broken Tax Code So That It Works for American Families and Job Creators, House Ways and Means Committee
        • The Graetz Competitive Tax Plan, Updated for 2015
      • Return-Free Tax Filing
        • What is return-free filing and how would it work?
        • What are the benefits of return-free filing?
        • What are the drawbacks of return-free filing?
        • How would the tax system need to change with return-free filing?
        • Who would qualify for return-free filing?
        • Would return-free filing raise taxes?
        • What was the experience with return-free filing in California?
        • What other countries use return-free filing?
    • The State of State (and Local) Tax Policy
      • State and Local Revenues
        • What are the sources of revenue for state governments?
        • What are the sources of revenue for local governments?
      • Specific State and Local Taxes
        • How do state and local individual income taxes work?
        • How do state and local sales taxes work?
        • How do state and local property taxes work?
        • How do state and local corporate income taxes work?
        • How do state estate and inheritance taxes work?
        • How do state earned income tax credits work?
        • How do state and local severance taxes work?
        • How do state and local soda taxes work?
        • How do marijuana taxes work?
      • Fiscal Federalism and Fiscal Institutions
        • How does the deduction for state and local taxes work?
        • What are municipal bonds and how are they used?
        • What types of federal grants are made to state and local governments and how do they work?
        • What are state rainy day funds, and how do they work?
        • What are tax and expenditure limits?
        • What are state balanced budget requirements and how do they work?
    • Glossary
      • Glossary
        • Glossary

How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act change personal taxes?

Recent History of the Tax Code

<3/4>
Q.

How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act change personal taxes?

A.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made significant changes to individual income taxes and the estate tax. Almost all these provisions expire after 2025, while most business provisions are permanent.

The new tax law made substantial changes to the tax rates and the tax base for the individual income tax. The major provisions follow, excluding those that only affect business income.

Tax Rates and Tax Brackets

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) reduced statutory tax rates at almost all levels of taxable income and shifted the thresholds for several income tax brackets (table 1). As under prior law, the tax brackets are indexed for inflation but using a different inflation index (see below).

Family Benefits (Personal Exemptions, Child Credit)

TCJA repealed personal and dependent exemptions. In place of personal exemptions, TCJA increased the standard deduction, discussed below. In place of dependent exemptions, TCJA increased the child tax credit (CTC) and created a new $500 tax credit for dependents not eligible for the child tax credit (table 2).

TCJA expanded the CTC in several ways. It doubled the maximum per child credit amount from $1,000 to $2,000 starting in 2018. It also increased the refundable portion of the credit but limited the maximum refundable credit to $1,400 per child in 2018. The maximum refundable amount limit is indexed for inflation but the maximum total credit amount is not. Unlike prior law, TCJA limited eligibility for the credit to children who have a valid social security number.

TCJA extended the CTC to higher-income families by substantially increasing the income thresholds at which the credit phases out. As under prior law, the income phaseout thresholds are not indexed for inflation.

TCJA created a new nonrefundable $500 credit for other dependents, including children who are too old to be eligible for the CTC, full-time college students, other adult members of the household for whom the taxpayer provides significant financial support, and children who would otherwise be eligible for the $2,000 child tax credit but lack a valid social security number. The $500 amount is also not indexed for inflation.

Standard And Itemized Deductions

TCJA nearly doubled the standard deduction (table 3). As before, the standard deduction amounts are indexed for inflation. The larger standard deductions will substantially reduce the number of taxpayers choosing to itemize their deductions.

TCJA changed the structure of several major itemized deductions. Under prior law, itemizers could claim deductions for all state and local property taxes and the greater of income or sales taxes (subject to overall limits on itemized deductions). TCJA limited the itemized deduction for total state and local taxes to $10,000 annually, for both single and joint filers, and did not index that limit for inflation. As under prior law, taxpayers cannot claim a deduction for state and local taxes against the alternative minimum tax (AMT).

Under prior law, taxpayers could deduct interest on mortgage payments associated with the first $1 million of principal paid on debt incurred to purchase (or substantially renovate) a primary and secondary residence plus the first $100,000 in home equity debt. For taxpayers taking new mortgages after the effective date, TCJA limited the deductibility to the interest on the first $750,000 of loan principal and eliminated the deductibility of interest for home equity debt.

Previously, taxpayers could deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses (including costs for health insurance) above 10 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). For 2017 and 2018, TCJA allowed deductions for out-of-pocket medical expenses above 7.5 percent of AGI. After 2018, the prior law 10 percent of AGI threshold applies.

TCJA repealed the phase-down of the amount of allowable itemized deductions (sometimes called the Pease provision). This limitation took effect at AGI above $266,700 for single filers and $320,000 for taxpayers filing joint returns.

capital gains, dividends, and the alternative minimum tax

TCJA retained the preferential tax rates on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends and the 3.8 percent net investment income tax (NIIT). The NIIT applies to interest, dividends, short- and long-term capital gains, rents and royalties, and passive business income. TCJA separated the tax-rate thresholds for capital gains and dividend income from the tax brackets for ordinary income for taxpayers with higher incomes (table 4).

TCJA retained the individual AMT but raised the exemption levels and raised the income threshold at which the AMT exemption phases out, which will significantly reduce the number of taxpayers subject to the AMT. The exemption amounts and phaseout thresholds continue to be indexed for inflation.

Estate Tax

TCJA doubled the estate tax exemption to $11.2 million for single filers and to $22.4 million for couples, and continued to index the exemption levels for inflation (table 5). The top estate tax rate remains at 40 percent.

Affordable Care Act Penalty Tax

Starting in 2019, TCJA set the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) individual mandate penalty tax to zero. Previously, households without qualifying health insurance were required to pay a penalty equal to the lesser of 2.5 percent of household income or $695 per adult and $347.50 per child, up to a maximum of $2,085. Under the new law, individuals who do not enroll in adequate health insurance plans will not face a penalty starting in 2019. Because fewer people will obtain free or subsidized coverage in the absence of the penalty tax, and the reduced costs of ACA premium tax credits and other subsidies and Medicaid benefits will far exceed the lost revenue from setting the penalty tax rate to zero, the net effect will be to reduce the federal budget deficit. This provision does not sunset.

Inflation Indexing

TCJA changed the measure used for inflation indexing, from the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) to the chained CPI-U. The chained CPI-U more accurately measures changes in consumer welfare resulting from price changes because it accounts for people finding substitutes for goods whose prices increase faster than others. The chained CPI-U thus generally increases at a slower rate than the traditional CPI-U, implying that individuals will end up in higher tax brackets and that indexed tax credits (like the earned income tax credit) will increase at slower rates than they would have under the old indexing system. The change in indexing is permanent.

Sunsets

A notable feature of the individual tax and the estate tax provisions is that all of them expire after 2025, except the reduction of the ACA penalty tax, the change in inflation indexing, and several changes in the tax base for business income. Some provisions expire sooner (for example the increased deductibility of medical expenses applies only to tax years 2017 and 2018). In contrast, many of the business tax provisions do not sunset. Congress chose to make the individual provisions temporary to limit the revenue cost of the TCJA to a level consistent with the overall constraint on the 10-year revenue loss in the Congressional Budget Resolution and to comply with Senate budget rules under the process used to pass the tax act that require no increase in the federal budget deficit after the tenth year.

Data Sources

Congressional Budget Office, “Cost Estimate for the Conference Agreement on H.R. 1, a Bill to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Titles II and V of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2018,” memo, December 15, 2017.

Joint Committee on Taxation. 2017. “Estimated Budget Effects of the Conference Agreement for H.R. 1, The ‘Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” JCX-67-17.

Further Reading

Gale, William G., Hilary Gelfond, Aaron Krupkin, Mark J. Mazur, and Eric Toder. 2018. “Effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: A Preliminary Analysis.” Washington, DC: Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

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