The Bulletin Board – The GOP Tax Reform

The G.O.P. tax plan

Welcome to Bulletin Board, Local 802’s new blog, intended to contribute news and information relating to issues currently concerning our membership. Bulletin Board will be a space in which we will share information about topics that directly affect us and our careers, from workplace concerns and industry challenges, to legislation, pension and health care information.

Have a suggestion about what we might address? Let us know!

This week, we will begin with the new G.O.P tax law that is speeding on its way to to the President’s desk. How this new law affects you will depend on many factors: your income, how many dependents you have, your property holdings and residence, your health care insurance status and more. We are not tax experts and we recommend you consult your financial advisor/accountant for a full picture, but see the linked charts for a snapshot.

The New York Times is providing data visualization tools that may be able to help identify how the plan will hurt or help you.

Additionally, to get the fullest deduction on your property taxes, you can pre-pay your 2018 real estate taxes. If you do it before Jan 2018, you can take the deduction on this year’s taxes. Contact your R.E. tax office to get the correct amount for 2018. In New York City, that is the NYC Department of Finance, reachable at 311.

Did you know that you can prepay January and February’s health insurance employee contributions? You can also pre-pay as many years of membership dues (and get the $5 discount per year) as you’d like through the membership office or mail in your payments postmarked by December 31. It’s likely that deductions for instruments and instrument maintenance, as well as office supplies and charitable contributions will disappear under the new law, so buy and give now, if you can.