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Subscribe to RSSIf there’s one thing politicians excel at, it’s bickering, and the hot topic this week has been what to do about Bush-era tax cuts.
President Obama wants to permanently extend the tax cuts for middle-class families while allowing them to expire for individuals making more than $200,000 and households making more than $250,000.
Obama is trading barbs with Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the top House Republican, who wants a two-year freeze on all tax rates, retaining the Bush-era tax cuts.
Of course, both sides argue that their plan is the best for the ailing U.S. economy, but what about your own economy?
The Tax Policy Center has come up with a handy calculator that allows you to see how your taxes would be affected based on three possible scenarios: going with Obama’s plan, keeping things the way they are or allowing the tax cuts to expire.
The tool allows you to select for age, income level, marriage status and children. For example, a married couple with two young children and an income of about $75,000 would pay $1,653 in federal income tax under current law, $1,008 under Obama's proposal and $4,290 if the tax cuts are allowed to expire.
Take a deeper dive into the calculator and you can customize based on everything from childcare expenses to charitable contributions. Or if you don’t feel like inputting all that data, the Tax Policy Center will give you sample figures based on the average amounts people in roughly the same income bracket reported on their tax returns.
Roberton Williams, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said the tool was designed to answer the question on many people’s minds: “What’s going to happen to me next year?”
(He also conceded that it was a good place to send reporters who keep calling and asking the center to run these types of calculations for them.)
The Tax Policy Center, a project of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, also has done extensive research on the larger economic effect any tax policy changes related to the Bush tax cuts. Wonky readers who want to know more than they ever thought possible about the implications of the tax cuts on both taxpayers and the government, this link is for you.
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Ok, next presidential election vote for another republican and enjoy going deeper into the drain and watch the demise of the USA.
Charlie, I understand the sentiment, but don't you feel that Obama is bankrupting us much as W certainly did? The phrase has almost become cliche, but you cannot borrow your way to prosperity. It's really quite simple: Stop spending money you don't have!
I would like to see massive spending cuts with virtually nothing spared. Defense, SS, Medicare, Medicaid, education, agriculture.... yes, federal retirement benefits that have already been promised and counted upon by promisees, yes, including veterans retirement benefits. It's not about who deserves what. We don't have the money! And with me and jillions of other boomers just starting to hit the system.... well, I think it's scary. How long will foreigners continue to believe that the US represents the best risk? Frankly, I don't understand why they have not already bailed. Again, I hope I'm wrong. I've been wrong before, but if we get out of this unscathed, then there really is a free lunch. Regards....
No, I don't agree with that, Darn. You can look at what FDR did during the Depression to know that domestic stimulus spending works and results in higher tax revenues in the long run. Unlike wars and shipping pallets of cash to foreign warlords.
Yeah, FDR is the reason we all get to keep sending our money to the bottomless hole called social security. I'd give up every penny I ever paid into it plus all future benefits just to stop all further payments. Thanks Democrats for giving me a choice. OH WAIT YOU DIDN'T JUST MORE GOVERNMENT CONTROL TO KEEP US IN LINE.
Someone else was peddling a similar fearmonger calculator on another website. You can be absolutely assured that none of the tax breaks will be allowed to expire. It's possible that in two years, if Obama is reelected, he might try to end the tax cut for the top 3%, those making 250k and over.
Not one Democrat has said they would support ending ALL of the Bush tax cuts. Not one, including Obama.
By the way, in case you forgot, 1/3 of the Recovery Act Stimulus Plan was a TAX CUT! Remember that little jump in your take home pay about 15 months ago?
hmmm Yeah seems to me I read about that "little jump" in my checks last year, but its funny, I sure didn't see any profit from it! my extra 2 dollars a check went to taxes.....
Go with the Obama Plan, those of you who voted for that are nuts. The Bush Tax Cuts were for everyone who paid taxes. My wife and I as middle-class had 2400.00 back from the Bush Tax Cuts that we used on Goods and Services. That is why the economy was growing under W even with 9-11. Now lets talk about the Democratic Congress that was around during W's last 2 years. These idiots started the whole melt-down process that lead to what we have today. Can't wait for November, heck I wish November came last April. Gee lets see what socialism and out of control Unionism produces. Well folks if you look up to the West of Ohio, North of Indiana, and east of Wisconsin, you find the Sate of Michigan. This is what Obama has in store for the rest of us. At our far left is the state of California, this in another failed attempt to produce socialized programs that no one wants (other than Nancy Pelosi) and charge the producing sector out the ying yang. Memo to the Liberals: there is a shangrila for you guys already it is called Venezuela, you don't need to make one here, you pack up your bags of Urban Decay and Misery and go there. The rest of us here would do fine without you.
Did you try using the calculator in the article to figure out that you're going to be paying EXACTLY THE SAME in taxes as you do now if the Obama tax changes take effect? (unless your Adjusted Gross Income is over $250k a year - in which case, see my comment below) Math, people - do the math.
Yeah the Democrats always think the solution is more money in the governments hands. More power to the government thats the Democrats way.
From Timothy Noah's Column yesterday:
The United States of Inequality:
I know you have your little mind made up and you don't want to be confused by the facts, but here is the news for thinking people. Lyndon Johnson and the DEMOCRATS took the SS trust fund and put it into the general fund. ALL politicians have been spending it since then, although it seems that more has been spent by the DEMS on social engineering.
The smart people understand that they did that because they wanted to have more control over you. More power.. Everyone thinks their politician is a good guy/girl. But in reality they vote the party lines in washington. When Nancy says you will vote or else they do it.
First thing to do with this article is ignore the numbers....I do not know what conditions they placed that family of four earning 75,000, paying taxes under current code of $1,653. That's telling me they are only taxed on $16,500 or 22% of their income....or $58,500 of deductions from the 75k. Wrong!!! Can you say AMT for that amount of deductions?
From previous post. The article didn't indicate the family currently qualifies for lots of credits to reduce the tax from taxable income....Those credits are not going away unless there's a movement for code changes against families....no going to happen. The best way to make our tax system fair is to remove all credits below the line 44 of form 1040 and place any reduction from income taxed before the amount owed.
This is NOT about tax cuts. NO ONES taxes are going to be cut. The argument is about whose taxes, if anyones, are going to be RAISED. And NO ONES taxes should be raised in this economy. Its too weak.
If you raise anyones taxes, you will just be making matters worse, not better. The answer here is to CUT SPENDing and not Medicare either. Medicare took a 500Million cut for Obamacare.
Cut the 130,000 new white collar political hires that are making over $100,000 each to write new red tape. Then use that money to reduce the deficit. The, first thing to do is a hiring FREEZE and an across the board cut of 10% on anything the US govt spends money on. Defense, Medicare, Medicaid, you name it.
There is plenty of fat to cut that would not effect the essential services in those programs that can and should be cut And Congress should start the cuts by paying tax on political contributions and paying the tax directly to reducing the deficit.
500 million cut...
Yeah those Democrats love you so much they decided you couldn't have some surgery you needed. Thanks Obama.
No they tax cuts won't affect me because I don't have a job to pay any!
Consider puting tax cuts on people that get payed minimum wage too!
Cut government spending AND let the tax cuts expire. With the extra money from the tax cuts, start paying down this national debt. This would be the most logical thing. However, since the government can't control themselves once they obtain more money, i vote to extend the tax cuts.
Democrat or Republican, the last thing you should want is for the government to collect more money. The gov't is one of the most inefficient, wasteful organizations in the USA.
They will let them expire. Then they will put some spin on it to tell you how they passed some new law to save you money. In reality they only care about your vote.
whem
when is the american public going to get together and force the people who run our country to two terms of office no pension no chance for reelection until ten years and maybe just maybe we will finnaly have a goverment thats helps us instead off these professinoal pollitians who only work for themselfs as a whole and care very little about how we live
This might work: Cut all spending and Federal budgets by 10%; freeze all Federal salaries except for cost of living increases; EVERYONE pays 15% flat tax on ALL income no deductions (added bonus is we could do away with most of the IRS). Keep these rules in place for 4 years and revisit.
i think by down sizing the amount of reps that are currently in gov. with cut its spending by 75% eliminating their perks totally i dont have any why do they hell we could save this counrty a @!$%# load off money there alone then maybe the newly elected would realize they have to do a real job and get this country back on its feet again
Never seen a poor man provide a job.
Hey AM...your a nut case. If you work you pay taxes. It's all the people on wellfare and illegal aliens that suck up the money and don't pay taxes. Get your head out of your but so you can see.
Never seen a poor man provide a job.
The super- rich have had massive tax cuts since the Reagan years and the middle class has shouldered the burden because of them. The large corps have done away with pensions, 401k's are taxed at 33 percent when a middle class person retires yet the Republican party fights to do away with inheritance taxes, social security,and Medicare. America lost
T C ...I pay 15% now how about making it 10% and give me a tax cut
To optpmyst. It's easy to make accusations about President Clinton but where are your facts?
Abraham Lincoln said"A house divided among itself can not stand", all of you are proving him right!
"'Top 1% US income earners' earn 15.4 % of all US income, pay 33.6 of all US income tax." (JCT estimate year 2000). Top Income earners...earnings above $296,828 per annum. Seems a good idea to me to keep the tax as it is and continue to have this disordinate share of the tax payment go to those best able to pay it...
Clif Judy
I sure don't see any tax cuts coming, elimination of tax cuts equates to increase in taxes. The current government will continue to spend much more than they take in, regardless of tax cuts or tax increase.
I came out of college when Jimmy Carter, the worse Democrap prior to the current one, and I was in the 46% marginal tax bracket (federal 34% State 6% and SSI of 6%). I took a job that paid travel expenses because making more salary did not help me. The more I made the more the welfare system got!. This is what is missing from the soak the rich discussion. If you do not let a person keep a major part of his earnings, then he will simply work less. This is the path we are headed with the current president. A nation like canada or the UK. I sure as hell will not support that!