Did a Tax Cut Eat Your Refund?
Whether or not you’ve started on your 2018 taxes yet, many have – and, according to the headlines, there’s been some controversy about their refunds. Have you noticed?
While many apparently missed it, last January the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 1036, which updated the income-tax withholding tables for 2018 reflecting changes made by the tax reform legislation enacted in December 2017. Those new tables reflected not only the increase in the standard deduction, but repeal of personal exemptions and changes in tax rates and brackets.
For many, that should have meant an increase in their take-home pay, beginning in February.
But, according to the headlines, at least the first wave of filers saw noticeable reductions in their normal refunds – ostensibly because even though they made no change in their filing or withholding status, the IRS had changed the tables. Now, of course, things seem to be normalizing.
While many apparently missed it, last January the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 1036, which updated the income-tax withholding tables for 2018 reflecting changes made by the tax reform legislation enacted in December 2017. Those new tables reflected not only the increase in the standard deduction, but repeal of personal exemptions and changes in tax rates and brackets.
For many, that should have meant an increase in their take-home pay, beginning in February.
But, according to the headlines, at least the first wave of filers saw noticeable reductions in their normal refunds – ostensibly because even though they made no change in their filing or withholding status, the IRS had changed the tables. Now, of course, things seem to be normalizing.