Monday, January 27, 2025
Sunday, January 26, 2025
Tax Changes For 2025
The following is from irs.gov:
Notable changes for tax year 2025
The tax year 2025 adjustments described below generally apply to income tax returns to be filed starting tax season 2026. The tax items for tax year 2025 of greatest interest to many taxpayers include the following dollar amounts:
- Standard deductions. For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately for tax year 2025, the standard deduction rises to $15,000 for 2025, an increase of $400 from 2024. For married couples filing jointly, the standard deduction rises to $30,000, an increase of $800 from tax year 2024. For heads of households, the standard deduction will be $22,500 for tax year 2025, an increase of $600 from the amount for tax year 2024.
- Marginal rates. For tax year 2025, the top tax rate remains 37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $626,350 ($751,600 for married couples filing jointly). The other rates are:
- 35% for incomes over $250,525 ($501,050 for married couples filing jointly).
- 32% for incomes over $197,300 ($394,600 for married couples filing jointly).
- 24% for incomes over $103,350 ($206,700 for married couples filing jointly).
- 22% for incomes over $48,475 ($96,950 for married couples filing jointly).
- 12% for incomes over $11,925 ($23,850 for married couples filing jointly).
- 10% for incomes $11,925 or less ($23,850 or less for married couples filing jointly).
- Alternative minimum tax exemption amounts. For tax year 2025, the exemption amount for unmarried individuals increases to $88,100 ($68,650 for married individuals filing separately) and begins to phase out at $626,350. For married couples filing jointly, the exemption amount increases to $137,000 and begins to phase out at $1,252,700.
- Earned income tax credits. For qualifying taxpayers who have three or more qualifying children, the tax year 2025 maximum Earned Income Tax Credit amount is $8,046, an increase from $7,830 for tax year 2024. The revenue procedure contains a table providing maximum EITC amount for other categories, income thresholds and phase-outs.
- Qualified transportation fringe benefit. For tax year 2025, the monthly limitation for the qualified transportation fringe benefit and the monthly limitation for qualified parking rises to $325, increasing from $315 in tax year 2024.
- Health flexible spending cafeteria plans. For the taxable years beginning in 2025, the dollar limitation for employee salary reductions for contributions to health flexible spending arrangements rises to $3,300, increasing from $3,200 in tax year 2024. For cafeteria plans that permit the carryover of unused amounts, the maximum carryover amount rises to $660, increasing from $640 in tax year 2024.
Medical savings accounts. For tax year 2025, participants who have self-only coverage the plan must have an annual deductible that is not less than $2,850 (a $50 increase from the previous tax year), but not more than $4,300 (an increase of $150 from the previous tax year).
The maximum out-of-pocket expense amount rises to $5,700, increasing from $5,550 in tax year 2024.
For family coverage in tax year 2025, the annual deductible is not less than $5,700, increasing from $5,550 in tax year 2024; however, the deductible cannot be more than $8,550, an increase of $200 versus the limit for tax year 2024. For family coverage, the out-of-pocket expense limit is $10,500 for tax year 2025, rising from $10,200 in tax year 2024.
Foreign earned income exclusion. For tax year 2025, the foreign earned income exclusion increases to $130,000, from $126,500 in tax year 2024.
Estate tax credits. Estates of decedents who die during 2025 have a basic exclusion amount of $13,990,000, increased from $13,610,000 for estates of decedents who died in 2024.
Annual exclusion for gifts increases to $19,000 for calendar year 2025, rising from $18,000 for calendar year 2024.
Adoption credits. For tax year 2025, the maximum credit allowed for an adoption of a child with special needs is the amount of qualified adoption expenses up to $17,280, increased from $16,810 for tax year 2024.
Trump Is Working Hard To Protect Racism And White Privilege
It should come as no surprise that he is now acting to erase much of the racial progress in this country. It was something he did on his first day in office. He knows he can't overturn the Civil Rights laws passed in the Johnson administration - even the GOP Congress wouldn't go that far (because they know there would be a huge backlash).
But he can act to protect white privilege, and stop all efforts to eliminate it.
The right-wing likes to quote Martin Luther King, Jr. that everyone should be judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin. But they ignore the fact that Dr. King meant that was the ideal in a fair society - not the unfair society we live in.
The Civil Rights laws advanced our society, but it did not solve all of our racial problems. We still have a lot of racism in our societal institutions. This institutional racism (in courts, police department, schools, corporations, etc.) allows white privilege (a form of racism) to continue to exist.
Our government was fighting this institutional racism with different kinds of affirmative action (including DEI programs) and with the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department. With a stroke of his pen, Trump is trying to do away with any programs that fight institutional racism. He has outlawed DEI in government agencies, and threatened corporations if they don't also do that. And he has suspended all actions of the Justice Department Civil Rights division.
He didn't stop there. His executive order stopping birthright citizenship is aimed at brown and black people from Latin America and Africa - not whites from Canada and Europe.
When Trump says he wants to "make America great again", he is talking about taking us back to a time when rich white men ruled the country. He thinks the country was better when Blacks, Hispanics, women, and LGBTQ people were not full citizens. And he's trying hard to recreate that time by protecting white privilege and refusing to make sure Civil Rights law are enforced.
It's going to be a dark and troubled four years for anyone not rich, male, and white.
Saturday, January 25, 2025
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