Remember just before the end of 2017 when Donald Trump signed into law the Republican "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act"?
Trump claimed he and lawmakers "reached an agreement on tax legislation that will deliver more jobs, higher wages and massive tax relief for American families and for American companies."
As that middle class begins filing 2018 taxes, though, many are facing a troubling reality--their refunds are much lower than anticipated.
Some who have seen substantial refunds in the past find themselves owing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Reuters reports the 2018 tax season began slowly, demonstrating a significant decline in refunds and returns.
The average $1,865 refund so far this year is 8.4 percent less than the average refund in the same period last year.
The IRS received 16.04 million returns in the last week of January, a 12.4 percent decline from the same week last year.
13.1 million returns have been filed already, down 25.8 percent from the same time last year.
Trump promised the tax overhaul would simplify taxes so much, Americans could file them on a postcard.
However, Mary Papenfuss reports in HuffPost:
"[The law adds new challenges complicating] payroll withholding, so that not enough money was withheld by employers in many cases, meaning that people now owe more taxes. The new law also capped IRS deductions for paid state and local taxes, including real estate taxes, resulting in a nasty surprise for many filers. Several other deductions are no longer allowed."
Edward Karl, vice president of taxation for the American Institute of CPAs, commented:
"There are going to be a lot of unhappy people over the next month."
Many of those unhappy people are tweeting directly to the president.
For example:
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