The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: What Are the Key Changes for Individuals in 2024?

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) went into effect in 2018. This massive tax reform law contains many provisions affecting both individuals and businesses. The main provisions affecting individuals are summarized below.

Except where otherwise noted, all of these changes are scheduled to expire on January 1, 2026, unless they are extended by Congress.

Lower Individual Rates Lead to Tax Cuts

The TCJA kept the seven tax brackets with the lowest 10% bracket remaining the same. Other income tax rates were reduced. The TCJA created a new 12% tax rate that covers more income than the 10% and 15% brackets under prior law, resulting in lower taxes for many middle-income households.

At the highest end of the spectrum, the top tax rate is 37% instead of 39.6% under prior law. You have to have a substantial income to reach the top rate—for 2024, it applies only to married taxpayers with incomes over $731,200, and singles with incomes over $609,350.

Higher Standard Deduction

The TCJA roughly doubled the standard deduction, which reduces all individual taxpayers' taxable income by a fixed amount. For 2024, the standard deduction is $14,600 for single individuals and $29,200 for marrieds filing jointly. Individuals whose taxable income is less than these amounts pay zero income tax.

The $4,050 per-household-member personal exemption was eliminated. Because of this, larger families may benefit little from the increase in the standard deduction.

Many Itemized Deductions Eliminated

The TCJA eliminated itemized deductions for:

• unreimbursed employee expenses, such as mileage (previously deductible to the extent they exceeded 2% of adjusted gross income)
• tax preparation expenses
• alimony payments
• investment expenses
• moving expenses to move to a new job, and
• personal casualty losses (except for losses associated with special disaster relief legislation).

Charitable contributions remain deductible by itemizers. But fewer taxpayers itemize their personal deductions because of the increase in the standard deduction.

Medical Expenses

Under the TCJA, the AGI threshold for deducting medical expenses was reduced from 10% to 7.5% (2024 tax year).

Home Mortgage Interest Deduction

The TCJA limits the mortgage interest deduction to interest on $750,000 of acquisition indebtedness, a reduction of $250,000 from prior law. The limit went into effect January 1, 2018, and applies only to homes purchased after December 15, 2017.

Before 2018, interest on up to $100,000 in home equity loans or lines of credit could be deducted by itemizers. The loan could be used for any purpose, such as paying off credit card debt or for a child's college education. The TCJA eliminated this $100,000 home equity loan deduction for 2018 through 2025.

However, interest paid on a home equity loan or line of credit used to purchase, build, or improve a main or second home remains deductible. For example, you can still deduct the interest on a home equity loan you use to add a room to your home or make other improvements. Such a home equity loan counts towards the $750,000 or $1 million mortgage interest deduction loan limit, and the interest is deductible only on loans up to the applicable limit.

State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction

The TCJA limited the state and local tax deduction to a total of $10,000. Under prior law, individuals who itemized were allowed to deduct the full amount of property tax and state and other local taxes they paid each year, including state income and sales tax.

Child Tax Credit

The child tax credit is $2,000 per child under 17 with $1,600 of the credit being refundable (2024 tax year), meaning you don't have to owe taxes to receive the credit amount. The TCJA increased the phase out to over $200,000 for individual taxpayer income (up from $75,000) and over $400,000 income for marrieds (up from $110,000).

The TCJA also established a new $500 credit for each parent and nonchild dependent, such as college students.

Alternative Minimum Tax Relief

The TCJA increased the amount of income exempt from the Alternative Minimum Tax by 39%. As a result, few taxpayers are subject to the AMT.

Estate Taxes

Under the TCJA, estates worth up to $13.61 million per person are exempt from the federal estate tax (2024 tax year). This means that married couples with estates worth up to $27.22 million aren't affected by the federal estate tax.

Alimony Not Deductible

Under prior law, alimony could be deducted by the ex-spouse who paid it and was taxable income for the receiving ex-spouse. The alimony deduction saved on taxes because the alimony-paying ex-spouse was usually in a higher tax bracket than the alimony-receiving ex-spouse. The TCJA eliminated this deduction starting in 2019. In addition, ex-spouses who receive alimony are not required to pay income tax on the payments. This change applies to all divorces or legal separations finalized January 1, 2019 or later. The old rules continue to apply to divorces finalized before January 1, 2019.

The new rules resulted in many alimony-paying ex-spouses owing more in income taxes.

Obamacare Individual Tax Penalty Repealed

The Affordable Care Act (popularly called "Obamacare") required individuals to obtain minimally adequate health insurance for themselves and their dependents. Those that failed to comply had to pay a tax penalty to the IRS. The TCJA permanently eliminated this penalty starting in 2019, effectively making individual compliance with Obamacare purely voluntary.

However, some states may impose their own individual health insurance mandates on state residents.

Getting Help With Taxes and Tax Deductions

Hiring the right tax professional is important because getting good tax help can translate into more money in your pocket. To learn more about tax deductions and other tax matters, talk to a tax lawyer or other tax adviser.