WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. consumer sentiment in early January fell to a six-month low due to uncertain benefits from the tax cuts, according to a survey released by the University of Michigan on Friday.
While consumers are still confident about their personal finances and buying plans in the future, the index of consumer sentiment fell to 94.4 in January, the lowest level since last July, the survey showed.
"The disconnect between the future outlook assessment and the largely positive view of the tax reform is due to uncertainties about the delayed impact of the tax reforms on the consumers," said Richard Curtin, chief economist of the survey.
"Some of the uncertainty is related to how much a cut or an increase people, especially high income households who live in high-tax states, face," he said.
U.S. Congress last month approved a 1.5-trillion-U.S. dollar tax cuts package for all individual taxpayers, but it would also eliminate or cap a number of state and local tax deductions from their federal tax bills.
The impacts of tax reform vary wildly from person to person. For some homeowners in high-tax states like New York and California, the lost deductions in local property taxes and income taxes could more than offset the benefits from a drop in the federal tax rates.
