What Would Happen if the Bush Tax Cuts Just Disappeared in Some Scary Version of The Rapture?
Some background here: On February 1, Reuters posted a story about "backdoor" tax increases in the planning stages by the Obama administration. Essentially, the piece detailed what would happen in the Bush tax cuts actually expired in full at the end of this year (which is when they will go out of force absent any new legislative action).
Yesterday, Reuters pulled the story from its site, issuing not a correction but this:
ADVISORY: Backdoor taxes story
Tue Feb 2, 2010 1:35pm EST
The Feb 1 story headlined "Backdoor taxes to hit middle class" is wrong and has been withdrawn. The story said lower-income families will pay more under tax provisions scheduled to expire Dec 31. The Obama administration's budget calls for the extension of those tax provisions for households earning less than $250,000. There will be no substitute story.
The chatter on the interwebs and yak radio is that Reuters pulled the story directly in response to criticism from the Obama administration. I have no idea if that is true, but I do think it's worth looking at the original story, which does a good job of detailing exactly where the tax code was before those terrible Bush tax cuts (which somehow are responsible for massive, record-setting deficits as opposed to massive, record-setting spending bills; go figger).
It's good to know that Obama's budget keeps most of this stuff intact. It's one more thing for which to hold him accountable.
Here's the story, saved from the ashcan of cyberspace thanks to the inimitable Bruce Majors. To put it mildly, it makes sense to make sure these cuts stick around for as long as possible:
WIRE: Backdoor taxes to hit middle class…
« on: Today at 08:34:58 AM »
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100201/bs_nm/us_budget_backdoortaxesBy Terri Cullen Terri Cullen – Mon Feb 1, 4:09 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters.com) --The Obama administration's plan to cut more than $1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade relies heavily on so-called backdoor tax increases that will result in a bigger tax bill for middle-class families.
In the 2010 budget tabled by President Barack Obama on Monday, the White House wants to let billions of dollars in tax breaks expire by the end of the year -- effectively a tax hike by stealth.
While the administration is focusing its proposal on eliminating tax breaks for individuals who earn $250,000 a year or more, middle-class families will face a slew of these backdoor increases.
The targeted tax provisions were enacted under the Bush administration's Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. Among other things, the law lowered individual tax rates, slashed taxes on capital gains and dividends, and steadily scaled back the estate tax to zero in 2010.
If the provisions are allowed to expire on December 31, the top-tier personal income tax rate will rise to 39.6 percent from 35 percent. But lower-income families will pay more as well: the 25 percent tax bracket will revert back to 28 percent; the 28 percent bracket will increase to 31 percent; and the 33 percent bracket will increase to 36 percent. The special 10 percent bracket is eliminated.
Investors will pay more on their earnings next year as well, with the tax on dividends jumping to 39.6 percent from 15 percent and the capital-gains tax increasing to 20 percent from 15 percent. The estate tax is eliminated this year, but it will return in 2011 -- though there has been talk about reinstating the death tax sooner.
Millions of middle-class households already may be facing higher taxes in 2010 because Congress has failed to extend tax breaks that expired on January 1, most notably a "patch" that limited the impact of the alternative minimum tax. The AMT, initially designed to prevent the very rich from avoiding income taxes, was never indexed for inflation. Now the tax is affecting millions of middle-income households, but lawmakers have been reluctant to repeal it because it has become a key source of revenue.
Without annual legislation to renew the patch this year, the AMT could affect an estimated 25 million taxpayers with incomes as low as $33,750 (or $45,000 for joint filers). Even if the patch is extended to last year's levels, the tax will hit American families that can hardly be considered wealthy -- the AMT exemption for 2009 was $46,700 for singles and $70,950 for married couples filing jointly.
Middle-class families also will find fewer tax breaks available to them in 2010 if other popular tax provisions are allowed to expire. Among them:
* Taxpayers who itemize will lose the option to deduct state sales-tax payments instead of state and local income taxes;
* The $250 teacher tax credit for classroom supplies;
* The tax deduction for up to $4,000 of college tuition and expenses;
* Individuals who don't itemize will no longer be able to increase their standard deduction by up to $1,000 for property taxes paid;
* The first $2,400 of unemployment benefits are taxable, in 2009 that amount was tax-free.
