I pay the last estimate taxes in December

[progree]

6. Did the near doubling of the standard deduction help?

For myself it didn't. Both in 2017 (before TCJA) and for the 2018 projection (my tax person assumed everything in 2018 would be the same as 2017 for apples-to-apples comparison purposes), my taxes were somewhat higher. The near doubling of the standard deduction (for a single from $6,350 to $12,000, and for marrieds filing jointly twice these amounts) didn't help because my itemized deductions exceed both these amounts (I'm single and my itemized deductions exceed $12,000). Losing the $4,050 personal exemption hurt a lot.

The dependent exemptions are also gone, but the doubling of the child tax credit made up for that (in the 10%, 12%, and 22% tax brackets) when the dependents are under age 17 children (taxwise, a $1,000 increase in a tax credit is equivalent to an $8,333 exemption in the 12% tax bracket, and a $4,545 exemption in the 22% tax bracket).

Where people can get really screwed is the capping of the SALT (state and local tax) deduction to $10,000.