Single parents may lose in GOP tax overhaul

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House Way and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (L) (R-TX) and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R) (R-WI), joined by members of the House Republican leadership, introduce tax reform legislation November 2, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Times are about to become more complicated for single parents and their kids if the GOP tax overhaul becomes a reality.

Unmarried parents who file as “head of household” often shoulder the majority of expenses for keeping up their homes, and they mostly maintain custody of their dependent children.

Some 22 million taxpayers filed their 2015 income tax return under this status, according to IRS data.

Tax experts are concerned that with the loss of personal and dependent exemptions in both the House and Senate tax proposals, and the expiration of child tax credits in Senate bill, single-parent households may lose.

In the Senate bill, narrower brackets for heads of household who earn more than $70,000 a year could also subject those filers to higher taxes.

“I would be most worried about single-parent families and also very large families,” said Elaine Maag, senior research associate at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. “That’s because that personal exemption is so valuable to them.”

Here’s how the financial picture would change for single-parent households.