Seeing some happy clients at the tax desk this year
Last edited Sun Feb 8, 2026, 07:27 AM - Edit history (4)
The $6,000 deduction per person ($12,000 max per couple) for senior citizens is going over well. So is no tax on tips and overtime.
Whether deserved or not (probably not), tRump will be getting credit in many people’s eyes, just like he got credit for eliminating the “individual responsibility” mandate for the ACA which was seen by many as penalizing them for being unable to afford the substandard health insurance being offered to them.
My point is this: Why can’t Democrats come up with more things like this which appeal to lower income people? Yes, we got that onerous $10,000 cap on state & local taxes raised (which didn’t exist at all till it was enacted by repugs) but this mainly affects higher income homeowners. Child tax credit increased by 10% but that’s not much more than inflation.
What about the Other Dependent Credit? Why is it stuck at $500, and why so low in the first place?
Why not increase the Earned Income Credit? And why can’t that fourth child qualify you for a bit more EIC? Lower the age requirement for childless EIC permanently from 25 to 21? Raise the age limit from 65 to 70, for those low-income seniors who are trying to retire at 70 so they can qualify for higher SS?
Raise the age limit for Child Tax Credit from 16 to 18? Even 17 would interest many voters. People get pretty ticked off when their kid is not yet a legal adult but no longer counts as a child.
And for heaven’s sake, make the Child and Dependent Care Credit more than a token amount (nearly negligible compared to the actual cost of childcare)?
In the current “gig economy”, workers who used to be employees are being hit with 15.3% self-employment taxes taking Lyft, Uber, DoorDash etc off the hook for paying half the SS and Medicare taxes. Why not give so-called ‘contractors / sole proprietors’ a break on SE taxes based on their net profit (aka income), and pay for it by raising the cap a bit?
Bring back the personal exemption and reduce the standard deduction so more people can itemize deductions once again. Allow workers to once again deduct their expenses for work-related uniforms, supplies, travel etc. Lower the floor for medical expense deductions from 7.5% to 5% of adjusted gross income. Some people might even get to deduct their casino losses against wins once again (not the highest priority, granted, but still it gets people's attention) with a lower standard deduction. MAGA? How 'bout make the tax code great again?
These are just a few things I can think of off the top of my head, and I’m sure there are many other ideas that would get people’s attention.
Make these things rallying cries. People would take notice and it would make a difference at the ballot boxes. Don’t let Republicans control this narrative. Because the way I see it, that’s what they’ve been doing.
