26 Ways the New Tax Law Will Affect Your Wallet

The new year starts with a new tax law affecting every taxpayer in the land.

picture of the U.S. Capitol building
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The new year starts with a new tax law affecting every taxpayer in the land. Now that a jubilant President Trump has signed the massive tax overhaul into law, it’s time for the number crunching to move from Capitol Hill to your kitchen table. Do the pros and cons found in the 500-plus pages of legislative language add up to good news or bad news for your family’s bottom line?

Here’s a look at key provisions of the new law that could affect everything from your family to your investments to your retirement planning. Most of the changes go into effect right away in 2018, but will NOT affect your 2017 tax return due in April. In almost every case, that return is covered by the old rules. Also, note that many of the changes affecting individuals are scheduled to expire after 2025. Unless a future Congress acts to extend them, most of these rules would revert to those in effect in 2017.

Sandra Block
Senior Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Block joined Kiplinger in June 2012 from USA Today, where she was a reporter and personal finance columnist for more than 15 years. Prior to that, she worked for the Akron Beacon-Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. In 1993, she was a Knight-Bagehot fellow in economics and business journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has a BA in communications from Bethany College in Bethany, W.Va.