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Find out if Ohio Gov. John Kasich's plan to overhaul sales and income taxes would save you money, or cost you more.

(The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND,

Ohio - Chances are most self-employed Ohioans would like the tax changes proposed by Gov. John Kasich. Their state income tax bill on business earnings would be eliminated.

Smokers, however, might have a different take. They would pay another dollar for every pack of cigarettes they buy.

Some retirees would start paying tax on Social Security income. And everyone trading in a car to buy a new one would pay more, as the sales tax discount for trade-ins would be cut in half.

Sorting out the potential winners and losers under the governor's tax plan - and it is only a proposal at this point - becomes complicated because so many changes are in play.

So we created a calculator that allows you to run various scenarios in an attempt to get a handle on who would pay more taxes, who would pay less, and the dollars involved.

Would you get a tax cut? Find out how much, if anything, you would save through changes to income, sales and tobacco taxes proposed by Gov. Kasich. Income (x):

x-Exclude Social Security; report below instead. Amount of the income listed above from your personal business:

Amount of Social Security benefits taxable on federal return: Family size: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Two working spouses? No Yes

Cable TV bill (for new sales tax)



-- Monthly:



Parking fees (for new sales tax)



-- Monthly:



Cigarettes (for increase in tax)



-- Packs per week:



If you plan to buy a car or boat:



-- Price:

-- Trade-in:









Total

Estimate of the total impact for the major tax changes proposed

Current $ -- Pct. of income % After proposed changes $ -- Pct. of income % Change 2015-17 $ Percent change %

The details

Taxes included in the totals shown above

Income tax: 2015 filing $ -- 2016 filing $ -- 2017 filing $ Cigarette tax: current $ -- Proposed $ Base sales tax: current $ -- Proposed $ Excludes sales taxes itemized below Auto/boat sales tax: current $ -- Proposed $ New cable TV sales tax -- Proposed $ New parking sales tax -- Proposed $

Note: This is a basic tax calculation, without other special deductions or low-income tax credits tied to the federal returns.

-- Rich Exner, Northeast Ohio Media Group

Some mobile users may need to use this link at the full website to access the calculator.

The calculator covers the cut in income tax rates, an increase in the state sales tax and other changes proposed.

All the proposals included in the calculator can be found at the bottom of this story, but first some examples:

Example A

A single person who makes $25,000 a year and has a $50 monthly cable bill stands to save about $65 a year in sales and income taxes under the changes, dropping the bill for these two taxes to about $680.

But if that same person smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, all those savings would be wiped out. A proposed $1-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax would cost this person $365 a year.

Example B

A family of four with two working spouses, $60,000 in income, a $100 monthly cable bill, $50 in monthly expenditures on parking and plans to trade in a $10,000 car for a newer car costing $20,000 would end up with a slightly higher overall tax bill.

The income tax portion would drop more than $400 to $816. But the sales tax would increase by about $500 to close to $1,800.

Here's the breakdown for the increase in the sales tax breakdown: increasing the rate to 6.25 percent ($61), applying the tax to cable bills ($75), applying the tax to parking ($38) and reducing the tax credit on car trades ($363).

Example C

A self-employed person making $75,000 a year with a $100 monthly cable bill and no plans to buy a new car stands to save more than $2,000.

Simply eliminating the income tax is a $2,150 savings over what is paid now. Kasich wants to eliminate the tax for all businesses with less than $2 million in annual sales.

This person would pay $840 from sales taxes, an increase estimated at $136 because of the new cable TV Tax ($75) and the increased sales tax rate ($61).

If this same person, however, worked for someone else and was paid the same $75,000 as salary, their income tax bill would be $1,630 after the changes, down from $2,150 currently.

Example D

A family of four with two working spouses, $150,000 in income, a $100 cable bill, $75 in monthly parking charges and plans to trade in a $15,000 car for a new car costing $30,000 would save about $380.

The total state and sales tax bill for this family would drop from an estimated $7,178 to $6,798 with the changes.

This family's state income tax bill would drop nearly $1,200 to an estimated $3,896, but changes in the sales tax would eat up much of the savings from the income tax cut.

For example, the cable bill would cost $75 more and parking fees would cost another $56 because they would be newly taxed items under the governor's proposal.

Additionally, changes in the way trade-ins are treated would add nearly $550 to the cost of the new car.

Here are some details about each of the proposed changes that the Northeast Ohio Media Group included in creating the calculator.

Income tax

Income tax rates would be cut across the board, dropping 23 percent by the final year of the two-year phase in. This would cut Ohio's top tax rate from 5.3 percent to 4.1 percent, and the lowest rate from 0.53 percent to 0.41 percent.

The governor would also:

Increase personal exemption amounts to $4,000 per exemption for those making less than $40,000, and to $2,850 per exemption for those making from $40,000 to $80,000. It would be unchanged at $1,700 for higher incomes.

Begin taxing a portion of Social Security benefits

Eliminate the

Sales tax

The governor proposes increasing the state sales tax from 5.75 percent to 6.25 percent. Separately, counties add on additional sales taxes, making the total sales tax rate as high as 8 percent currently.

To estimate the impact of this change,

NEOMG

used

for what people now pay, based on family size, income and what is taxed in Ohio.

Sales tax expansion

The plan calls for applying the sales tax to some things that are not currently taxed, such as fees charged for lobbying services. The Ohio Department of Taxation said individuals could be affected by proposals to apply the sales tax to the following:

Cable television bills

Parking charges, including fees paid at public meters or private lots (the tax would be included in the price at meters)

Pre-packaged tours and other travel services

In our calculator, we included the potential impact of the tax on cable bills and parking fees.



Change in car sales tax

Currently, Ohioans trading in an old car or boat at a dealer receive a sales tax break on the purchase of their new car or boat.

The amount of the tax break

under the governor's proposals. Here's how it would work.

Someone receiving $10,000 as a trade-in from a dealer while buying a new $30,000 car now pays sales tax only on the difference - $20,000 in this case.

The governor's proposal would cut the credit for the trade-in by half, or to $5,000 in this case. This means the buyer would have to pay sales tax on $25,000, adding more than $300 to the total

purchase

price.

Cigarette tax

Ohio's cigarette tax is now $1.25 a pack. The governor is proposing to increase the tax to $2.25 a pack.

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Comparable changes would be implemented on other tobacco products as well.