Abstract: Although President Trump has promised many changes to the Federal tax code, any set of changes must meet the revenue-neutral standard imposed by the Republican-controlled Congress. Also, each of the changes is opposed by a powerful lobby. It will be difficult to achieve any major changes. For instance, one of the proposed changes is to raise the standard deduction. This will eliminate the advantage of the itemized deduction and result in a popular objective for tax reform – simplification for most filers. It will also eliminate the importance of the deduction for mortgage and property tax (hurting the housing industry)and the charitable deduction (hurting churches, Re Cross, Salvation Army, etc.). Simplified tax returns would cripple H&R Block and other retail tax services (another powerful lobbying group). But changes were promised, and President Trump will be intent on delivering. For more information, contact Scott Miller, CPA here
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