Will people stop being suckers now?

Jason Marques, a postal worker, pizza delivery driver and student in Massachusetts [...] said that, since his income didn’t change, he was expecting a similar refund to the roughly $6,000 he got last year — money he said would go towards his student loans or paying off credit card debt.

Marques said he was hurt by the cap on student loan interest deduction and the elimination of non-reimbursed business expenses, which he used to deduct the out-of-pocket costs he incurred as a delivery driver. “My jaw hit the floor,” he said, when he learned his 2018 refund would be under $500.

[...]

Marques is not alone in his frustration. Early filers have been taking to social media to express their ire at finding that their refunds were a fraction of what they anticipated or — worse yet — that they would owe an unexpected bill to the IRS.

“That campaign promise was one of the only two reasons I voted for you,” wrote Twitter user Dee Nelson. “Rethinking that decision now.”

Facebook user Erin Boyd told of a similar unpleasant surprise in a comment on the social media platform. “I got screwed. Widow with two young children and I try to owe $100 or less, because who likes loaning money to the government. And this year I owe $1,000,” she said.

[...]

While some people likely noticed an uptick in their take-home pay, the amount might have been small enough that people didn’t notice, especially those who get direct deposit and might not look at their pay stubs. What’s more, workers who had an increase in their health insurance premiums or other paycheck deductions might have missed the bump entirely.

Postal worker Marques said he didn’t notice a change in his take-home pay after the new withholding rules took effect. “It looks like it was a bunch of gimmicking,” he said. “I didn’t know how badly it was actually going to hurt.”

  NBC

Republicans have sold their supporters a scam for decades, constantly harping on how Democrats want to tax you to death and give your money to the poor, and Republicans are the party that cuts taxes.  Hopefully their supporters will one day catch on that Democrats' social programs help people in their situation, and Republicans' tax cuts always help the rich and their corporate donors.

A July report from the Government Accountability Office said more than 20 percent of taxpayers will owe the IRS come April, and due to the changes in the tax law, even the experts say it’s hard to guess who might wind up in the red to the taxman.

[...]

Taxpayers who live in states with high costs of living or who used to take a lot of real estate-, tax- or work-related deductions also should be prepared to have to break out their checkbooks come April.

[...]

This is the kind of outcome Marguerite Garcia is dreading. “We were warned by our tax accountant that we should brace ourselves for this year’s taxes, and that the approximately $3,200 refund we usually enjoy will most likely be obliterated,” she said.

Garcia’s husband is a sales consultant who travels frequently from the family’s home in Oregon, sometimes logging in excess of 20,000 miles on his personal vehicle in a single year. Under the new tax code, he will lose the ability to deduct that mileage along with other unreimbursed expenses.

[...]

A top culprit for the confusion is the fact that the IRS made changes to withholding tables about a year ago. “People have fewer withholdings in most cases than they did last year, and they don’t realize it,” said Bob Charron, partner and head of the tax department at Friedman LLP.

A top culprit is the GOP.  When the 2020 elections roll around, that picture of Trump kissing his tax plan ought to be spread far and often.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.