What a Tax Overhaul Could Mean for You

The Republican Party unveiled its large-scale tax plan on Sept. 27, 2017. Whether the nine-page outline, or what everyone is calling a framework, actually becomes the tax plan (it's expected to be hundreds of pages after the details have been fleshed out) depends on a number of factors, including the calendar (Congress hopes to pass it before year's end) and politics (naturally). And even if Congress passes the plan, and President Donald Trump signs it into law, the details could drastically change from what they currently are. Still, the plan has been put forth for the country to examine, and so naturally, you may be wondering -- what's in those nine pages, and how might it affect me?

The key word in that last sentence is might. Nothing is certain, especially in this political climate. Still, some of what might come to fruition includes the following.

[See: Answers to 7 Burning Tax Questions.]

Tax cuts. There are currently seven individual income tax brackets. The new plan would have three -- 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent. Right now, exactly where your annual salary falls into those brackets isn't known. But -- just as it is now -- the people making the least money would be in the 12 percent bracket (currently it's 10 percent). The middle class would be in the 25 percent income tax bracket. The top earners would get 35 percent instead of the current 39.6 percent that they're paying. There may end up being a fourth bracket added for the highest-income earners, according to the plan.

It appears as if the wealthiest will save the most of their taxes. At least, judging from what some organizations have concluded. The nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center studied the proposal and determined that, the way things look now, almost three-quarters of the savings from the tax reform would be diverted to the top 20 percent of earners, which would be anyone making $149,000 or more. More than half of the savings are expected to go to the top 1 percent (those bringing in more than $732,800).

Meanwhile, the Tax Policy Center found that more than 30 percent of households with income between $150,000 and $300,000 would see their taxes climb.

"Simple math will tell us that a 5 percent rate cut on a billion dollars results in greater tax savings than a 5 percent rate cut on a hundred thousand. So from a simplistic view of who will save the most in their tax bill, it is obvious the wealthy will save more than the average American," says William Brink, assistant professor of accountancy at the Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Brink also stresses in the spirit of bipartisanship, "Whether we are talking about the current Republican tax plan or a Democratic tax plan, both parties clearly believe that they are doing what is best for Americans and the American economy."

And while the plan appears to promise tax cuts for everyone, Brink thinks that there may be some middle-class households that see a marginal tax rate increase.

Valrie Chambers, a professor of accounting at Stetson University in Celebration, Florida, isn't sure what will happen with the middle class.

"It's hard to say what would happen to Middle America," she says. "Their individual taxes will vary. However, what we do know is that the proposed framework is very costly and would cause the deficit to balloon. Eventually ordinary Americans will have to pay for that."

[See: 10 Smart Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund.]

Fewer deductions. Republicans are suggesting almost doubling the standard deductions from $6,350 to $12,000 for single filers and from $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples. That sounds promising for every taxpayer, and it may be -- but while it makes the standard deduction significantly higher, the plan would also erase almost every other personal deductions, except the mortgage interest rate and charitable deductions. So health care deductions, for instance, which resulted in $10 billion in savings for taxpayers last year would be gone. State and local tax deductions, long a way for households to reduce taxes, would also disappear.

Exemptions and credits. The personal exemption, which keeps $4,050 of income from being taxed and is given to every member of the family, would disappear. So if you have a larger family, you could have far more of your income taxed. Currently, if you have, say, three kids and two adults in the family, you could reduce your taxable income by $20,250.

You won't be able to do that anymore. On the other hand, the math may work out yet for families. The current tax blueprint says the framework "significantly increases" the child tax credit, which is now $1,000 per every child under 17. But nobody knows yet how much more it will be.

[See: 9 Ways to Avoid 401(k) Fees and Penalties.]

So as you can probably see, there's a lot of uncertainty around the tax plan, and it's still too early to tell who may be the winners and losers with this framework, although it does seem pretty clear that people who have very wealthy parents will do well with this plan. Because ...

Goodbye, estate tax. If you make more than $5.49 million, you'll be happy and relieved to know that your heirs won't have to pay the estate tax, a tax on the transfer of the estate of a deceased person.

"Over a billion will be saved for the Trump family if the estate tax is repealed," says Stanley Veliotis, associate professor of accounting and taxation at Fordham University in New York City.

Of course, if you're earning more than $5.49 million a year or have a billion dollar fortune you're waiting to inherit, you probably aren't reading this article right now. You're paying someone to read it for you.