WASHINGTON — You can almost hear the howling on Twitter. Millions of Americans figuring their taxes are coming to a nasty conclusion. Their refund is smaller -- or they actually owe the feds money.
The GOP tax overhaul of 2017 has thrown a lot of people for a loop.
Under the hashtag #TaxScam or #GOPTaxScam scores of people are venting.
"Last year I got a tax refund. This year, with unchanged salary, I owe $1,300. I’m middle class. Yet the very wealthy got huge cuts. #ThanksRepublicans," wrote David Hoffman.
"Anyone that voted for the new tax plan needs to be tar and feathered. My return was $5000 less this year and my checks were only $20 higher! #goptaxscam," tweeted jerry5150.
And..."Worse tax return I had in a decade! I admit I voted for @realDonaldTrump but he has officially lost my vote for 2020," tweeted A9N7G3.
Mecrob Gilman joked: "People complaining about #GOPTaxScam are simply doing their taxes wrong by not taking advantage of the new private jet deduction. #taxes2019 #taxrefund ."
Most people will get a tax cut from the 2017 GOP tax overhaul, but an estimated six percent of us will see our taxes go up. And if you failed to check your withholding, you could be in for a nasty surprise even if your taxes go down.
Middle income taxpayers in high tax jurisdictions like Maryland and D.C. are most likely to get whacked. That's because the new tax bill capped the property tax deduction and the deduction for state and local tax at $10,000.
I'm in Maryland, and that change alone cost me $14,000 in deductions. My wife and I did get the higher $24,000 standard deduction. But we're still out almost $8,000 in total deductions. We owe the feds almost $4,000.
Federal contractor Rotty Mendez already lost out on two paychecks during the shutdown. Now, he's really worried he might owe the IRS money too.
"I break even most of the time.... I might owe this year."
The IRS said the average refund is down eight percent so far this year. The number of people getting refunds has dropped by a quarter.
The IRS did urge people to review their withholding last year, but few people did. You might want to reconsider this year.