Who is old enough to remember when you could write off interest on taxes?

[kentuck]

Credit cards, auto loans, etc? And if you were unemployed, you did not have to pay taxes on unemployment compensation? And your FICA taxes were lower than today for all working people? Those were all taxes that Reagan raised on working people...

[NMDemDist2]

1. yes i remember that don't i wish it were here again eom

[RebelOne]

2. I remember, too.

And I had a lot of credit cards, so I was able to write off a lot.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. The Deduction Loss Was Immediate

It's the reason why most people didn't actually see much difference in net pay. Oh sure, the withholding tables went down and it looked like they were making more each paycheck, but in April, they either owed more or got a smaller refund. (The latter is what happened to us all but two years, but we didn't have a car payment those two years.)

But, those eliminations of deductions were immediate with the tax cuts, which meant that the vast majority saw only a fraction of the touted tax cuts.

The increases in payroll taxes and the application of taxes to UE happened a year later.
The Professor

[Warpy]

4. I also remember when you could deduct out of pocket

healthcare costs. Eliminating this deduction was insult to injury.

[Ruby Romaine]

5. Don't forget Income Averaging-Raygun did away w/that!

You could go back a few years-it was great if you had not made much money & all of a sudden got a well paying job.
It was great for students-
You paid tax on average.

[ramapo]

6. And tax free savings interest

Another screw to the middle-class was when the deduction (up to $400) for interest on your lowly savings account was taken away. This actually encouraged saving unlike today where you pay taxes.

You also got to deduct something for sales tax.

The loss of income averaging certainly hurt me as I've had widely fluctuating earnings.

[tnlefty]

7. I remember the loss of the deduction begun by Carter for solar panels

installed on houses. We put them in one of the first houses that we built.

Ooops, so yeah I remember the interest deductions being taken away, too.

[napi21]

8. Yes, I remember very well!

I also remember back to the time when you could deduct the cost of cigarettes! The only funny thing was that EVERYBODY smoked! I had a 78 year old aunt who never smoked in her life, but did on her tax return every year. Of course, cigarettes cost 25 cents a pack then.

[On the Road]

9. Cigarettes?

I remember most of these tax deductions, but this one shocks me. What was the purpose?

[napi21]

11. I'm not really sure why. I was pretty young then and didn't

really ask or care why something was on the allowable list. My guess would be it was promoting smoking to help the tobacco industry. You do know that the Army used to supply soldiers with free cigarettes don't you?

[Arwennick]

10. Back then it was great

My ex-father in law was a CEO of Teledyne Continital Aircraft Engines and he showed me how to do my taxes where you'd deduct everything under the sun.For about 8 years I got back every cent paid in.According to my filings I was a degererate gambler,alcoholic,chain smoking,land speculating,charity giving,oilwell investor.All of it was on the up & up and legal in the eyes of the law(IRS).

[Arwennick]

13. But

You had to have reciets and it was a family effort.My ex was a clerk in a convience store(tobacco).My Brother in law had a liquer store(alcohol),We'd makle several trips to the local dog track and pick up old tickets.We bought as a family 40 acres and have development plans made(never to be implimented).Had Oil Co.s do sismographic test(it cost about $2800 back then)Listed the whole family as investors then donated the mineral rights to charity.We sold the land after the new laws were passed in the early 80's.I don't miss the Ex but I sure do miss my ex-father in law.He was sharp.

[Justice]

12. Student Loans!

(although a much watered down version has been brought back in I understand)

[bearfartinthewoods]

14. excuse me but why was that a good thing?

We owe waaay too much as a nation and as individuals. Rich people writing off mega bucks on there obscene palaces. Anything that discourages the consumer/debt cycle is a good thing in my book. Tax loophole, if we have to have them, should encourage behavior that benifits society, not drowns us in debt.

[drfemoe]

15. yes..

and business mileage and expenses if you worked for someone else.
I was a tax preparer during RR, and things changed drastically.
I believe he was the one who screwed up capital gains taxes, which they've been fidgeting with ever since. And the "luxury tax", which closed down yacht building yards by the dozen.. rich folks just went to another country to purchase yachts.. sheesh. It sucked. All of it.

Still does. America's tax code is a laughable scam. I also read some freeper recently writing about "entitlements" .. do you want your tax $$ to go to the POOR!! NO!! Dimwit .. the rich get richer . follow the money. If the POOR ever start getting richer, I guess the freepers will have a collective stroke, gawd forbid.

[bobbieinok]

16. interest payments, sales tax, $300 of health ins payments, ALL of

professional expenses (prof dues, union dues, jounals etc)

and for lang teachers could deduct travel expenses to country where their language is spoken