The Standard Deduction is almost doubled!! Yay! …. Personal Exemptions are gone…. So is that even? Is it a good thing?

….IT DEPENDS!

The standard deduction for 2017 (MFJ) is $12,700. So, the government will not tax this amount of your family’s income. For each person in your household, you get another $4,050 that is not taxed. Imagine you have four children – that’s 4 times $4,050 that is not taxed, plus you and your spouse, another 2 times $4,050.  So there’s $37,000 total right off the top that will not be taxed this year.

Jump ahead to 2018. Now the standard deduction (MFJ) is $24,000, close to double from 2017! But now there are no exemptions for you, your spouse, your children… nada.

But, there is an increase in the Child Tax Credit…which is another can of worms. So, see? ……IT DEPENDS!!