Tax change benefits rich
Thank you, Don David (WHT “My Turn” Dec. 24), for pointing out just one trickery of the new tax law. I’m concerned that the loss of the $4,050 personal exemption (or more, if adjusted as in the past for inflation) really hits struggling families hard.
Doesn’t this mean that most couples with four dependents will lose a whopping $24,300 (or more) deduction in 2018? Of course, a couple with $500,000 taxable income will be unaffected, as their personal exemptions were fully phased out under the old tax law. They will also be happy to see their estate tax exemption increased to $22.4 million.
Anyway, as I look at the new law it appears to benefit the rich far more than the average taxpayer, while only a fool can claim that it won’t lead to a colossal increase in the national debt.
I also don’t understand why irrelevant attachments such as lifting the ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are included in this impetuous and scarcely debated piece of legislation.
Burt Masters
Kailua-Kona