Thanksgiving Table Setter: Tax Cuts for the Whole Family

Tax cuts are in the headlines and may very well find their way into your Thanksgiving get together.

Complaints from Democrats that Republicans are only cutting taxes for the rich ring particularly hollow this year because non-partisan studies show that both the House and the Senate bills would cut taxes for every income bracket subject to federal taxes. What’s more, you can prove to nearly everyone at your table that they’re going to get a tax cut.

Your Younger Brother: A single person with $25,000 in income would owe around $1,725 under current tax law. Under the House bill his income tax would fall to $1,560. Under the Senate bill, it falls even further–to $1,370

Your Newlywed Sister: A married taxpayer earning $50,000 with no kids would have a tax bill of around $3,470 under current law. The House bill drops that down to $3,120. The Senate bill to $2,830.

Your Married Siblings With Two Kids: A married couple with $50,000 of income and two children would see their tax bill fall from $219 under current law to nothing under both the House and Senate bills. At $75,000 of income, this couple would see their tax bill fall from $3,980 to around $2,920 under the House bill and just $1,739 under the Senate bill. At $100,000, this works out to $7,730 under current law falling to $5,920 under the House bill and $4,739 under the Senate bill.

Your Annoyingly Successful In-Law: The power couple at the table, who flew in from the coast with their two kids and earn $200,000 per year will see their tax bill fall from $34,800 to $29,1000 under the House bill and $27,320 under the Senate bill.

Your Parents:  The average income for older, married Americans is around $60,000. If this is wage income, their taxes would fall from $4,537 to $4,320 under the House bill and $3,940 under the Senate bill. Results could vary, however, depending on how much of their income is from retirement accounts and Social Security.

In other words, whatever the income of the people around your table, they’re likely to see their tax bill fall under either the House or Senate bill.

Where do these numbers come from: We assumed that each of your family members takes the standard deduction and does not itemize, which describes most taxpayers. To calculate tax bills under current law, we used the average result from a number of freely available tax estimators online. To calculate tax bills under the House and Senate bills, we used this calculator built by Marketwatch.