On Friday the Treasury Department further relaxed penalties on people who didn’t pay a sufficient minimum of their total income tax throughout 2018.  Taxpayers can now avoid penalties if they paid at least 80% of their 2018 income taxes through withholding and/or quarterly estimated tax payments.  That’s a second moving of the goalpost.

In 2017 roughly 11 million taxpayers paid penalties for underpayment.  The move to an 80% threshold should reduce the number of people who would face penalties for 2018 by about 25% according to Treasury officials.

Roughly 2/3 of households will pay less tax in 2018 than under prior law according to the Tax Policy Center.