Making Sense of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

Editor’s note: Treasurers and other church leaders continue to grapple with how the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 affects their staff’s payroll, charitable giving, taxes, and other financial areas of their ministry. The following article will help you better understand how the Act does—and doesn’t—apply to your church. Specifically, it addresses areas related to donor giving and will help you guide employees as they seek to understand the new tax brackets, changes in deductions and tax credits, and other information pertinent to individual taxpayers.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce tax rates and modify credits and deductions for individuals and businesses. With respect to individuals, the bill:

• Replaces the seven existing tax brackets (10 percent, 15 percent, 25 percent, 28 percent, 33 percent, 35 percent, and 39.6 percent) with seven new and lower brackets (10 percent, 12 percent, 22 percent, 24 percent, 32 percent, 35 percent, and 37 percent).