Singletary

Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. “They may have had higher health insurance premiums that easily wiped out all or some of the tax cut.”

Gallup asked: Have the new tax laws caused your federal income taxes to go up, go down, stay the same or are you unsure?

Forty-three percent of respondents said they either were unsure of the impact of the tax changes or had no answer. Just 14 percent said their taxes went down, and 21 percent said their tax bill increased.

“I’m happy about the tax changes,” wrote Jan R. from Vienna, Virginia, when I asked readers how they felt about the GOP tax bill. “I did my taxes both ways — itemized deductions and standard deduction. Got about the same refund as last year when using itemized deductions and almost $900 more using the new standard deduction. I did change my withholding last year to adjust for the new tax law, so I wasn’t surprised this year.”

Andrea Fabian of Fairfax Station, Virginia, was certain the changes wouldn’t help.

“I re-calculated the 2018 numbers using the 2017 system,” Fabian said. “We paid $554 more tax in 2018 than we would have if nothing had changed. Also, this is after I accelerated all of our 2019 charitable giving into 2018. If I hadn’t done that, it would have been a few thousand more.”

Another reader — T.M. Kiesel from Newcastle, Wyoming — wrote: “I am retired, basically on a stable fixed income, and having lost the personal exemption and some deductions, my taxes are up nearly 12 percent from the last several years. It doesn’t sound like much, but it does hurt, and it’s hard to make up!”

Many people ended up in a better financial position by taking the higher federal standard deduction. However, this decision came with an unpleasant surprise about their state tax situation.

“What surprised me most about my taxes this year was the 831 percent increase in my Maryland state income taxes,” wrote Len Amerise from Middletown, Maryland. “Because I took the standard deduction on the federal return, I also had to take the standard deduction on the Maryland return.”

For many, tax season 2019 was a bust, and the Christmas gift they were promised seemed more like a lump of coal in their stocking. Readers can write to Michelle Singletary c/o The Washington Post, 1301 K St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20071. Her email address is michelle.singletary@ washpost.com. Follow her on Twitter (@ SingletaryM) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/ MichelleSingletary). Comments and questions are welcome, but due to the volume of mail, personal responses may not be possible. Please also note comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer’s name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated.