Did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Reduce People’s Federal Taxes?
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The stories are commonplace in the news and on social media: the taxpayer who either received less of a refund in 2019 compared to what they received in 2018 or, even worse, went from receiving a refund in 2018 to having to write a check for taxes owed in 2019. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was the most sweeping update to the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years. For individuals, the TCJA reduced federal income tax rates, increased the standard deduction, doubled the child care tax credit, repealed the personal and dependent exemptions, and capped the deductions for state and local taxes, among many other reforms. But, according to SurveyMonkey, only 40% of Americans believed they saw savings, and only 20% were sure they had. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in March found just 17% of Americans believing they would pay less in taxes.