Trump and your finances: Here’s what could change
When he took office, President Trump vowed to take a meat cleaver to regulations he says have stifled corporate America and the economy.
But consumer advocates say some of the Trump administration’s rollbacks of Obama- era financial rules, as well as its support for new legislation, will hit U. S. households squarely in the pocketbook.
The White House and Republicans in Congress also have enacted a tax overhaul that will result in cuts for some people but hikes for others, and introduced legislation to repeal parts of the Dodd- Frank law.
The Trump initiatives scale back, or aim to reduce:
Taxes: The average low- and middle- income household will realize annual savings of about $ 1,000 in the short term, according to the Tax Policy Center. Since the standard deduction will double, many lowerincome Americans will pay no taxes while others gain from the expansion of the child tax credit. But most of the benefits go to the wealthy, the TPC says. And by 2027, households earning $ 40,000 to $ 75,000 overall would pay billions more in taxes. Upper- middle- class households could be hurt because the deduction for state and local taxes will be capped at $ 10,000, and the mortgage interest deduction will be limited to home values up to $ 750,000.
Lawsuits by bank and credit
card customers: A rule passed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB) and set to take effect next spring would have allowed customers of banks, credit- card companies and others to join in class- action lawsuits.
But the financial industry says customers typically win bigger payouts through arbitration than through class- action suits. Overtime pay: The Obama administration passed a rule that would have made an estimated 4.2 million more workers eligible for overtime pay. It raised the threshold at which executive, administrative and professional employees are exempt from overtime to $ 47,476 from $ 23,660. A federal judge struck down the regulation last year. The Trump administration is appealing the ruling, but Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta has indicated he will seek a more modest increase in the threshold. Dodd- Frank financial reform: Since Trump took office, Congress has tried to chip away at the sweeping law enacted after the 2008 financial crisis. A bill passed by the House would weaken the CFPB, replacing its current funding from the Federal Reserve with appropriations from Congress and thus leaving it vulnerable to political squabbles.