Upon Further Review is a new online opinion column from Clarion Staff Wrtier Kelsey Fitzpatrick.
Recently there has been a lot of talk about President Trump’s Tax Reform and its effect on our country.
All this talk started back last year when the idea of reform was first introduced. You recently just paid your taxes, hopefully, and you did it according to the old system, but next year that will all change, and likely for the better.
This tax reform was introduced by Republicans and supported by President Trump. This reform doesn’t change too much about your taxes, but it is going to lower low-income and middle class taxes, and will likely raise taxes for those with higher incomes.
Business Insider did a really good job explaining what this tax plan will change. Make sure to check it out at http://www.businessinsider.com/how-gop-tax-bill-impacts-people-at-every-inco me-level-trump-standard-deduction-2017-12 . Essentially, this plan changes your tax bracket and will overall lower taxes for more than 80% of Americans.
The way income is bracketed under the old system had brackets that grouped fewer people together by income, but had a higher percentage of them taxed. Under the new plan brackets are grouped larger with lower percentages taxed.
Many organizations have criticized this plan though, many with little mathematical or statistical evidence to prove what information they shared.
I would shy you away from supporting groups like Not One Penny or Tax March who’s pages lack evidence to defend very serious allegations. For example, Tax March states that “the TrumpTax raises taxes for 92 million middle-class families, rips health care away from 13 million people, and threatens life-saving programs millions of Americans rely on” but does not provide any research or a link to research defending such a strong point.
It’s hard to tell if what these movements argue is true, especially so soon, but only time will tell.
My interpretation is that this reform is a step in the right direction for America because our current tax plan is often ignored, so conversation will help us move forward. Many people do not realize that while upper-class Americans make much more than the average citizen they also are paying well above the average citizen and an incredible percent more than the middle class.
This reform poses to do good for lower and middle-class Americans, but it still needs work. The next step would be to make it easier for consumers to do their taxes, or even just understand them, then continue to reform.
The next year will be educational for Americans and the White House, after we see the results of this tax plan on citizens, and how it changes the economy overall. Hopefully we can see a change in our nation on taxation soon, and keep Americans talking about options.
Kelsey Fitzpatrick
Staff Writer
