Who Changes the Tax Code and How Does It Affect You?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is currently in the process of implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). This important tax legislation will have a significant impact on individuals, businesses, government entities, and tax-exempt entities. Your employer or pension provider uses your tax code to determine how much income tax should be deducted from your salary or pension. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will provide you with the correct code to use.

It is difficult to predict what Congress will decide to do with the various tax deductions and credits available. However, it is worth keeping an eye out for any future developments. The 2001 tax cut introduced by former President George Bush temporarily slowed the trend of increasing taxes, but tax credits continued to rise, resulting in a negative income tax. Before joining Kiplinger, he worked for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting and Kleinrock Publishing, where he provided breaking news and guidance for public accountants, tax attorneys, and other tax professionals.

Even though American settlers did not have to pay taxes on their income, they still had to answer to the British who imposed excise taxes on real estate and tea.

Standard Deduction

- Only those who applied for the standard deduction on their tax return (instead of requesting deductions listed in Schedule A) could make this deduction. Negative income tax was a program whereby people with incomes below certain thresholds could receive funds through the tax system in the form of tax credits. The 16th Amendment was introduced in 1913 to enable an income tax by removing the population proportional clause, thus saving the IRS from bankruptcy.

With more Americans now willing to take their wealth as taxable income, overall tax revenues remained relatively unchanged despite the decrease.

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

- This law significantly reduced all individual tax brackets and changed the way companies accounted for capital expenditures, encouraging investment in equipment. This meant that even though people's real incomes were decreasing, they were also required to pay more taxes. As a result, Reagan had to reduce some of his tax cuts in 1984, particularly on the corporate side, in an attempt to offset the budget deficit.

Despite this, the IRS announced that in 1986 more than 900,000 Americans were millionaires, possibly due to Reaganomics' high tax cuts. The Constitution's sanctity and age-old aversion to taxes were once again tested in the 1790s when conflict with France led to a property tax. Even though it is still months away from filing season, now is a good time of year to start thinking about next year's return. There is a group of tax exemptions that are constantly scheduled to expire but Congress continues to extend them for another year or two.

Those who have not filed their return (or paid any taxes due) face severe penalties before the deadline.

Jacob Macdonnell
Jacob Macdonnell

Incurable zombieaholic. Passionate beer maven. Zombie trailblazer. Hipster-friendly coffee fanatic. Infuriatingly humble foodaholic.