IRS Reporting 25% ***Fewer*** People Getting Tax Refund This Year

[DeminPennswoods]

65. Personal exemptions went away

The increase in the standard deduction for a single filer went from $6,350 to $12,000, and increase of $5,650. But that was offset by the loss of the personal exemption of $4,050, meaning a net cut of $1,600. Since the personal exemption and standard deduction would have increased by the CPI (2.8%), iirc, they would have been roughly $6,530 and $4,160, for a total of about $11,000 making the standard deduction increase closer to $1,000.

For anyone who had even modest investments, most mutual funds sold high while the market was hitting record highs. This generated higher than average capital gains income.

For those with state/local taxes over $10,000, the excess was not deductible.

It seems the insertion of a new rate of 12% between 10% and 15% marginal rates did not help reduce taxes that much.