But, to my dismay, my taxes increased
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These days, all the publicity is about people who are getting smaller tax refunds this year … clear evidence, they say, that Trump lied about cutting middle class taxes.
Not really.
People seem to easily confuse “refunds” with “taxes paid”.
Of course, the relevant measure is “taxes paid” … and, most middle-classers are paying less in taxes.
But, behavioral economics and psychology kick in … and, people wrongly focus on their refunds.
If I did that, I’d be feeling great today
Last year, I had to write a check to the government. Ouch. This year, I’m getting a statistically insignificant refund.
Good news, right?
Nope … because my taxes went up.
My income stayed about the same … so the increase was due to the tax law changes.
When I drilled down on the causes & effects, I got a few surprises….
The Homa Files 