Public Law 115-97, otherwise known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, has been touted by the congressional leaders who designed it as a boon for ordinary Americans, and a win for businesses. As an IRS enrolled agent, I am intimately acquainted with the tax code, and I assure you, I'm not buying this bill of goods.

The truth, as proven out by the clear, objective, and unwavering rules of mathematics, is that many of the people who can least afford it will end up paying more tax for 2018. By example, an elderly married couple filing jointly with $50,000 Adjusted Gross Income, who have a $130,000 mortgage and medical expenses of $17,000 will pay approximately $1,650 in federal income tax for 2017. That same couple, with precisely the same income and deductions, will pay $2,400 for 2018; an increase of $750.

They can add that to their rising medical expenses as they experience the infirmities of aging and increasing health care costs. Make no mistake, this “tax cut” is not for the middle class, particularly the aging middle class, and the jobs it promises to create will likely be the extra jobs they will have to take to pay their higher taxes.

Madeleine Lewis

Groton