Originally Posted by Name User

Unless you earn less than the standard deduction you're going to be paying taxes. That's around $6,000 a year. Not many people in the US earn less than that.

Keep in mind Trump's plan increases the standard deduction to $30,000 but eliminates most deductions.

For pilots this is kinda a big deal. We get to take some pretty good per diem deductions and other things like tips, "dry cleaning", etc. etc. on our taxes. I'm a domestic reserve guy and currently deduct around $12k-$14k a year in work expenses alone. International guys who fly a line are probably in the $20k-$25k range.

I don't know how Trump's plan will handle those deductions but even if it keeps them, you probably won't even come close to the standard deduction of $30k (if married) especially since mortgage interest is going away unless you donate quite a bit, and even then you're just hitting the deduction.

This will make taxes quite a bit simpler which is nice, but the basic thought is even if your overall marginal rate goes down a couple points you're probably going to end up paying more.

Which I'm fine with, as long as it can simplify the tax code. It's gotten insane.