New tax law enacted, paychecks 2% less

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - If Friday is your pay day, you may be in for a surprise. Those who take home about $1,000 every other week will get about $20 less each pay check.

It's not a new tax, but rather a provision in the American Tax Payer Relief Act.

"It kind of just was never addressed and it expired," certified public accountant John Murray said. "It was a stimulus, part of an extension of the Bush-era tax credits back in 2010." 

It lowered social security taxes to 4.2 percent and as of January, that tax is going back up to 5.2 percent.

Some don't mind but for others, every penny counts.

"It's definitely putting me in a bind, especially because I'm a college student and I don't have time to try to make a better living. I need all the money I can make," Collin Brown said. 

"I'm getting like $30 less per paycheck," Kieria Smith said.

Murray said there may be other parts of the new tax act that will help some, but he said that's hard to pinpoint.

However, most Americans will be left to cut more from their already scaled back budgets.