Dollars to donuts the failing NYT doesn’t clarify this. The big hoopla over a $3,900 tax increase, but nary a whisper when it’s pointed out that their hypothetical family would actual see a fax savings of over $1,500. That’s a total tax savings of $5,400! And Pelosi’s Pinheads and Schumer’s Scheisters just keep marching on with their lies and misrepresentations.
The TurboTax Defense
A New York Times correction blames the popular software, but a liberal academic still isn’t satisfied.
James FreemanUpdated March 6, 2018 9:29 p.m. ET
The search continues for Americans who will not benefit from the
Trump tax cuts on individual and corporate income. The New York Times has corrected a story this column described last week that originally forecast a much larger tax bill for a hypothetical New York couple. Now the paper acknowledges that the tax bill for such a couple would actually be lower and is blaming a popular software product for the error. But a liberal law professor says the Times still doesn’t have the story quite right.
That also goes for much of the media, which has devoted enormous coverage to the possibility of higher taxes on some Americans, even though the overwhelming majority are receiving tax cuts. And of course all Americans will benefit if the new tax law works as intended and encourages increased investment, faster growth and rising wages.
As for the confusion at the Times, the paper’s particular example was an imaginary couple named Samuel and Felicity Taxpayer. The Times described their imaginary family, including two children and an elderly parent living in the household. The paper elaborated: “Both Samuel and Felicity earn income, she as an employee of a design firm and he as a self-employed engineering consultant.” And the Times sketched out the family finances, writing that “their total income for 2017 was $183,911, but after deductions, their taxable income is $88,293. In 2018, it would be $116,097.”
The Times concluded that their fictional family would owe a whopping $3,896 more in taxes under the new law. But on Friday, the Times published the following:
Correction: March 2, 2018 An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the probable effect of the new tax law on a hypothetical couple’s 2018 tax bill. The TurboTax “What-If Worksheet” that generated the projection for their 2018 taxes failed to indicate that the couple would probably be entitled to claim a sizable deduction for income earned from consulting. As a result of that deduction, the amount they would likely owe on taxes would decline by $43, not rise by $3,896.
That’s quite a difference for our imaginary couple. But what if this is not the end of the story? Daniel Hemel, who teaches tax law at the University of Chicago and flagged problems with the original Times story, suggests that Times editors still don’t understand how much savings the hypothetical couple would enjoy under the Trump tax cuts.
On Monday Mr. Hemel tweeted: “Still don’t see why Samuel & Felicity aren’t claiming nonrefundable dependent credits of $500 for their children Luke & Heidi and their parent Sydney, for additional tax savings of $1500 under the new law.”
The Times is not alone in failing to appreciate the benefits of tax reform. And if the paper is still trying to get a handle on the details of the Republican plan enacted in December, it can hardly be a shock to readers.
But TurboTax is another story. Millions of Americans rely on the software to guide them through the morass of state and federal tax regulations. Has the software been updated to reflect recent changes in the law?
UPDATE: In response to this column’s inquiry, Lisa Greene-Lewis of TurboTax maker Intuit emailed the following statement:
When the calculation was run using the “What if” tool a few months ago for tax year 2018 ( taxes to be filed in 2019), the tool was not updated with future tax law. The IRS is still in the process of issuing additional guidance.Following the tax reform bill being signed into law, TurboTax first concentrated on updating our tax year 2017 products with the few new provisions in the law that impact 2017 taxes so that our customers could accurately file their 2017 taxes. We also updated our TaxCaster app tool, which allows customers to get an estimate of their tax liability for 2017 and also a side-by-side comparison of how the new tax reform law impacts them. We continue to update our stand alone tools for future year tax scenario calculations and can assure you that our tax products used to file taxes are up to date for the 2017 tax year (taxes that are being filed now). Once we receive additional guidance from IRS on the 2018 tax provisions for taxes filed in 2019, our 2018 tax products will be updated as with previous tax law changes.
No word yet on whether the Times will run another correction in response to the latest critique from Mr. Hemel.
The TurboTax Defense
A New York Times correction blames the popular software, but a liberal academic still isn’t satisfied.
James FreemanUpdated March 6, 2018 9:29 p.m. ET
The search continues for Americans who will not benefit from the
Trump tax cuts on individual and corporate income. The New York Times has corrected a story this column described last week that originally forecast a much larger tax bill for a hypothetical New York couple. Now the paper acknowledges that the tax bill for such a couple would actually be lower and is blaming a popular software product for the error. But a liberal law professor says the Times still doesn’t have the story quite right.
That also goes for much of the media, which has devoted enormous coverage to the possibility of higher taxes on some Americans, even though the overwhelming majority are receiving tax cuts. And of course all Americans will benefit if the new tax law works as intended and encourages increased investment, faster growth and rising wages.
As for the confusion at the Times, the paper’s particular example was an imaginary couple named Samuel and Felicity Taxpayer. The Times described their imaginary family, including two children and an elderly parent living in the household. The paper elaborated: “Both Samuel and Felicity earn income, she as an employee of a design firm and he as a self-employed engineering consultant.” And the Times sketched out the family finances, writing that “their total income for 2017 was $183,911, but after deductions, their taxable income is $88,293. In 2018, it would be $116,097.”
The Times concluded that their fictional family would owe a whopping $3,896 more in taxes under the new law. But on Friday, the Times published the following:
Correction: March 2, 2018 An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the probable effect of the new tax law on a hypothetical couple’s 2018 tax bill. The TurboTax “What-If Worksheet” that generated the projection for their 2018 taxes failed to indicate that the couple would probably be entitled to claim a sizable deduction for income earned from consulting. As a result of that deduction, the amount they would likely owe on taxes would decline by $43, not rise by $3,896.
That’s quite a difference for our imaginary couple. But what if this is not the end of the story? Daniel Hemel, who teaches tax law at the University of Chicago and flagged problems with the original Times story, suggests that Times editors still don’t understand how much savings the hypothetical couple would enjoy under the Trump tax cuts.
On Monday Mr. Hemel tweeted: “Still don’t see why Samuel & Felicity aren’t claiming nonrefundable dependent credits of $500 for their children Luke & Heidi and their parent Sydney, for additional tax savings of $1500 under the new law.”
The Times is not alone in failing to appreciate the benefits of tax reform. And if the paper is still trying to get a handle on the details of the Republican plan enacted in December, it can hardly be a shock to readers.
But TurboTax is another story. Millions of Americans rely on the software to guide them through the morass of state and federal tax regulations. Has the software been updated to reflect recent changes in the law?
UPDATE: In response to this column’s inquiry, Lisa Greene-Lewis of TurboTax maker Intuit emailed the following statement:
When the calculation was run using the “What if” tool a few months ago for tax year 2018 ( taxes to be filed in 2019), the tool was not updated with future tax law. The IRS is still in the process of issuing additional guidance.Following the tax reform bill being signed into law, TurboTax first concentrated on updating our tax year 2017 products with the few new provisions in the law that impact 2017 taxes so that our customers could accurately file their 2017 taxes. We also updated our TaxCaster app tool, which allows customers to get an estimate of their tax liability for 2017 and also a side-by-side comparison of how the new tax reform law impacts them. We continue to update our stand alone tools for future year tax scenario calculations and can assure you that our tax products used to file taxes are up to date for the 2017 tax year (taxes that are being filed now). Once we receive additional guidance from IRS on the 2018 tax provisions for taxes filed in 2019, our 2018 tax products will be updated as with previous tax law changes.
No word yet on whether the Times will run another correction in response to the latest critique from Mr. Hemel.
