<prompt> Human: IntroductionFor the past several weeks Congress has been debating several large changes to the tax code. Late last night, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was passed in final form by both the US House and Senate. It is virtually certain that President Trump will sign this bill into law in the very near future.Please keep in mind that with a few very limited exceptions, this bill only applies starting 112018. Thus, your tax return due April 15th will not be impacted by this bill as that return is for 2017 income.The purpose of this thread is as follows: To summarize the major provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. To discuss potential year-end planning tips in the comments. To allow you to ask and answer questions about the impact of this bill on you and your personal financial situation in the comments.IMPORTANT NOTE - Political commentary is not allowed.While this post has been reviewed by multiple members of the mod team, errors may still be present. If you find an error, please send a message to the mod team Additionally, minor changes, technical corrections, and interpretations of the bill are still ongoing - even last night, a few small changes to the bill were made.___Summary of Major ProvisionsIf you arent familiar with the basics of the US tax system, we strongly encourage you to consult the wiki Alternatively, Khan Academy has a great series explaining income taxes in the US.The discussion below assumes you have at least a basic understanding of the US tax code and are familiar with most of the major jargon i.e. the differences between gross income, AGI, and taxable income, etc.... Additionally, for those of you that have been keeping a close eye on this process, it is important to note that several of the most controversial provisions were altered by the conference bill. Thus please read this list, especially if you havent had a chance to examine the final bill relative to earlier versions.New Tax BracketsPlease keep in mind that tax brackets apply to taxable income income after deductions and not gross income.For Single IndividualsLower Bound Upper Bound Rate One-Step Tax Formula------------0 9,525 10 0.1 Income9,525 38,700 12 Income - 9,525 0.12 952.5038,700 82,500 22 Income - 38,700 0.22 4,453.5082,500 157,500 24 Income - 82,500 0.24 14,089.50157,500 200,000 32 Income - 157,500 0.32 32,089.50200,000 500,000 35 Income - 200,000 0.35 45,689.50500,000 NA 37 Income - 500,000 0.37 150,689.50For Married Individuals Filing JointlyLower Bound Upper Bound Rate One-Step Tax Formula------------0 19,050 10 0.1 Income19,050 77,400 12 Income - 19,050 0.12 1,90577,400 165,000 22 Income - 77,400 0.22 8,907165,000 315,000 24 Income - 165,000 0.24 28,179315,000 400,000 32 Income - 315,000 0.32 64,179400,000 600,000 35 Income - 400,000 0.35 91,379600,000 NA 37 Income - 600,000 0.37 161,379You can find tax brackets for less commonly used filing statuses head of household and married filing separate hereStandard Deduction and Personal Exemption ChangesCurrently, there are two major items taxpayers deduct from their adjusted gross income AGI - 1 the greater of the standard deduction or their total personal itemized deductions mortgage interest, real estate taxes, state and local incomesales taxes, charitable contributions, certain medical expenses, etc... and 2 personal exemptions.The new tax bill eliminates personal exemptions about 4,150 per person claimed on the tax return and increases the standard deduction. The new standard deduction will be 12,000 for an individual and 24,000 for a married couple filing jointly.Specific Changes to Certain Itemized DeductionsCertain itemized deductions now have new limitsrestrictions. Specifically: Interest on new not existing home loans for loan amounts above 750,000 may no longer be deducted. Interest on Home Equity Loans is no longer deductible it appears that this applies for all home equity loans, and not just new ones. There is now a new, combined cap on state, local, and property taxes. No deduction is allowed for state and local income or sales taxes property taxes that, combined, exceed 10,000.Changes to Child Tax CreditThe child tax credit will increase to 2,000qualifying child. The credit will now start to phase out at 400,000 for a married couple and 200,000 otherwise. 1,400 of the credit will be refundable i.e. payable even if you owe littleno taxes.A new other dependent tax credit of 500 per person will be added. This credit will apply to dependents who arent children.Student Specific ProvisionsIn contrast to previous versions, the final version does not tax graduate student tuition waivers. Student loan interest continues to be an adjustment as a for-AGI deduction.Other Important Changes and non changes The new bill effectively eliminates the individual mandate to purchase health insurance or, at the very least, reduces the penalty for non-compliance to 0. A full analysis of the implications of this provision are beyond the scope of this post. Starting with future divorce decrees, alimony is no longer deductible by the payer. Likewise, it is no longer taxable to the recipient. Moving expenses will no longer be an adjustment except for military members. The bill will change the kiddie tax to follow the trust schedule hitting the 37 bracket starting at 12,500. The estategift tax exemption amount will increase to 11.2MM 22.4MM per couple. There are no change to 401ks, no mandatory use of FIFO for cost basis, no longer qualifying period for tax exempt home sales, and no changes to the adoption credit.___ConclusionThe Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 contains numerous important provisions that you should know about. Because taxes are complex, there is no easy answer for whether you will pay more or less under the new rules although were sure the comments will link to some tools that give you a good guess.Please keep the discussion of this bill focused on the personal finance angles and refrain from engaging in political discussions.___SourcesPlease see the following links for additional discussion of the tax bill. See here for a longer write-up that discusses the above changes and more in great detail. See here for analysis published by The Journal of Accountancy. See here for the official text of the bill be forewarned - it is about 1100 pages long, extremely technical, and has since been modified in a few minor ways.  <response>: See here for the official text of the bill be forewarned - it is about 1100 pages long, extremely technical, and has since been modified in a few minor ways.If you want a ton of gory details, starting on page 510 is the JOINT EXPLANATORY STATEMENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE which is a non-legal explanation of the changes. There are a bit less than 200 pages of technical but lay explanations of the changes of individual taxes then many more of business and others; think IRS publication level of detail, or maybe a little more technical. The law changes themselves end just before that, so really only half of the document is the amendment to the law.But for each of the changes discussed, theres a discussion of the present law, the change as proposed by the House, the change as proposed by the Senate, and the change as made it into the final conference bill if it did.Note that there are many cases where proposed changes were dropped. Theres not really any indication of this when you start reading the present law section; youll just read potentially several pages of text only to discover that nothing has actually changed and you read that for nothing. :- Theres also probably a lot of stuff that can be skipped in the HouseSenate sections as well. It might be worth looking ahead to the final section on the conference part, then going back to the earlier sections as appropriate. 