University of Utah graduate student Thomas Brussel paid roughly $1,000 in taxes last year on nearly $17,000 in campus stipends and other income.
But under a new tax plan approved last week by the U.S. House of Representatives, the U. doctoral student said he would likely fall below the federal poverty level, even as his redefined taxable income balloons on paper — along with his tax bill — but without an actual increase in pay.
“My taxes would quintuple and I would make a little bit more than $10,000 for my nine-month work period,” Brussel said Tuesday, as he joined others gathered in opposition to the Republican plan.