FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 5, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 27
April 2019 Tax Bills May Catch Some Americans Off Guard
BY JOHN SAVIGNANO, CPA
Most Americans will owe less
in taxes as a result of President
Donald Trump’s overhaul of the
U.S. tax code, but in a few jurisdictions,
about one in 10 will
be paying more, according to an
analysis released Wednesday by
the Tax Policy Center.
New Jersey topped the list of
states with the highest percentage
of taxpayers seeing a hike, at
10.2 percent. Maryland and the
District of Columbia followed,
at 9.4 percent, the report shows.
In California, 8.6 percent of taxpayers
will pay more and in New
York 8.3 percent will have higher
levies. North Dakota has the
most winners from the new law,
with 75.4 percent receiving a tax
cut and less than 4 percent seeing
an increase.
The decline in tax liability largely
reflects the law’s lower rates for
individuals, an almost doubled
standard deduction and expanded
child tax credits. Those who’ll
pay more are mostly being affected
by a new $10,000 limit on
the state and local tax deduction.
That especially has an impact on
taxpayers who weren’t subject
under the old law to the alternative
minimum tax, which has
been modified.
Withholding Tables
After the law passed, the
Internal Revenue Service issued
new withholding tables, directing
employers to adjust how much tax
money they take from workers’
paychecks starting in February,
along with a new W-4 Form for
estimating allowances. Those
withholding amounts are effectively
a guess at what employees’
tax liabilities will be. Some taxpayers
will find the tables to be a
blunt tool.
Some taxpayers may find their
withholding amounts are too low
because the transition doesn’t
take changes in itemized deductions
or new credits into account.
The agency issued an online withholding
calculator to allow taxpayers
to double check.
Mark Mazur, vice president of
tax policy at TPC, said taxpayers
who have itemized in the past and
have more complicated financial
pictures should recalculate their
withholding to make sure they
don’t have any surprises and find
out they owe the IRS money next
year.
But for people with simpler
finances, “the new tables are likely
just as accurate as the old,”
Mazur said.
About 65 percent of taxpayers
will receive a tax cut in 2018,
averaging $2,200 from the new
law’s individual provisions, while
6 percent will receive an increase
of about $2,800, according to
TPC. Nationwide, 6.2 percent of
taxpayers in the top 20 percent
income level can expect an average
increase of $8,800.
John Savignano is a partner with
Savignano Accountants & Advisors
located at 47-46 Vernon Blvd.,
Second Floor, in Long Island City.
If you have any questions or require
additional information, please call
John at 718-707-0955.
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