Tax Bill Calculator: How The GOP Legislation Could Affect You

WASHINGTON, DC — Congressional Republicans appear to be on the cusp of passing a massive overhaul of the American tax system — a bill that has the potential to affect nearly every household in the country. But how will it affect you?

The New York Times has created a handy calculator so taxpayers can get a general sense of what the bill would mean for them in the coming year. Using data on 220,000 real households, the calculator can estimate the effect the legislation, if passed, will have on how much you'll pay in taxes.

The calculator comes with a few necessary caveats. First, it only calculates the impact on personal taxes, and doesn't account for changes in the business tax code, which are substantial. Second, it only calculates the impact of the new legislation on your 2018 tax bill. Since many of the law's provisions would expire after several years, the change in your tax rate for one year doesn't necessarily tell you all that much about how you'll be impacted in the long run.

And third, because the Times' calculator is a relatively simple tool, it cannot actually tell you what your tax bill will be — this depends, of course, on your unique characteristics. Instead, it produces an estimated range of tax cuts or increases most people in your income bracket and similar life circumstances can expect.

With that in mind, check out how the calculator estimates your tax burden.

Overall, the Times says that about 75 percent of people would initially see a tax cut if the legislation becomes law.

If you're a single person making between $25,000 a year and $75,000 a year would likely get a tax cut worth between $500 and $1,250. A married couple with two kids making between $75,000 and $100,000 would get a tax cut in the range of $2,270 and $2,690. If you're married with no kids and making between $350,000 and $750,000 a year, you would get a tax cut as low as $17,410 or as high as $24,640.

Many people, however, would see their taxes go up under the bill, even in its first and most generous year. The people who would do worse under the overhaul tend to be married couples with no children.

One of the households the Times used to create the calculator was a middle-aged married couple with no children bringing in $39,700 a year. They would see their taxes raised by $1,570. Another middle aged couple with no children making $18,500 would see their taxes go up by $240. One young single person making $192,000 would see a tax hike of $8,680.

But one of the biggest impacts of the legislation won't be seen on people's tax filings at all; instead, it will hit the health insurance market. Since the proposed law would eliminate the individual mandate for health insurance, analysts predict that around 13 million more people will be uninsured by the year 2027. This saves the government money because it won't have to pay to subsidize their insurance. However, the Congressional Budget Office also believes it will raise premiums in the individual insurance market by about 10 percent.

Read more about the details of the tax bill.

Also See: Rep. Brady: New Tax Code For New Era Of Prosperity

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