Posted on 05/12/2009 9:12:17 AM PDT by reaganaut1
The Obama administration provided more details on the scope of its tax proposals, showing the impact of rate increases on higher earners would hit couples with about $235,000 of "taxable income," or income after deductions and exemptions.
The administration also revealed new details of its initiatives to shut down offshore tax shelters used by some investors and businesses, and to raise taxes on the overseas earnings of many U.S. multinationals.
During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama said he wouldn't raise taxes on couples earning less than $250,000 but didn't give a precise definition of the term. On Monday, the administration published more details of how exactly the rate increases, if approved by Congress, would be implemented.
The Treasury Department's description, known as the "green book," showed that the new 36% rate would apply to an adjusted gross income of $250,000 "less the standard deduction and two personal exemptions." Those items effectively represent the minimum that a couple could subtract from adjusted gross income, officials said. A senior administration official estimated that that produces taxable income of about $235,000.
...
Doug Holtz-Eakin, a former top adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain, said Monday's announcement might sound like backtracking. "The truth is it just wasn't clear," he said. "But the pledge was if you were making $250,000, you're safe. This doesn't sound exactly consistent with that."
But a senior administration official said the $250,000 threshold always referred to AGI. Another official defended the implementation of the proposal as "very conservative."
...
Administration officials also defended a related plan to reduce the value of deductions for people with AGI of $250,000 and up, as a way to help pay for the cost of overhauling the health-care system.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Wait til NEXT year...
Can he stop Americans from moving overseas? If you see that, a dictatorship is in the offing.
Watch that figure drop to 23.5K by 2012.
Have they ever said what the cutoff was for single wage earners? are we supposed to assume half? As usual, either they are being deliberately vague or haven’t a clue.
What the BO administration hasn’t admitted publicly yet is even hiking the top tax rates will not pay for his spendulus plans. BO is going to have to increase the tax base and raise taxes on everyone in order to get the debt in this country under control.
Whoo HOO!
The messiah ROCKS. In his infinite wisdom he has determined that deficit spending 4-fold higher than his predecesssor and increasing taxation on middle class Americans will create jobs and generate wealth - even though the nation is bankrupt and in a 1930’s recession (actually looking more and more like a “d” word - depression.
Go show the nation and the world everything YOU know about economics, obama you magnificant bastard!
Watch this rolling graphic for updates on obama the magnificent’s job creation results
http://tipstrategies.com/archive/geography-of-jobs/
“Oh, I didn’t mean gross income, I meant taxable income.”
The weaseling begins in order to drive the number lower.
Sorry, anyone who “makes” an amount of money refers to gross income. When someone with a need to know asks how much I “make” I don’t look up my last 1040, I tell him my gross income.
confiscating the entire GDP couldnt get his debt problem under control
though I’m sure he has considered it
Will he roll back the biggest cigarette tax increase ever passed? The one he signed into law last February?
Ah...
235 is the new 250.
When it gets to 5, sell.
so.. you’re rich if you and your wife make $235k/yr?
what about a single person? $120k?
brilliant
Anyone who has an electric bill will have their taxes raised. Anyone with a capital gain will have their taxes raised. Anyone who invests in a multi-national company will have their taxes raised. Next year when Obama kills the Bush tax cuts, everyone is going to have their taxes raised.
The list goes on and on.
0's not-so-dirty-secret is that EVERYONE will have to be taxed at confiscatory rates, just to bring deficits under control without hyper-inflation. If you don't believe such rates will be needed, just look at the rates in socialist Europe. And THEY aren't spending money protecting the world like we are.
People just won't stand for it in the end. That's why 0 is trying to ram as much through as possible before his sleeping idiot worshippers wake up and see some reality.
I wonder if middle class people realize that a progressive tax system is designed to keep them middle class. The closer they get to being “rich”, the more the government takes.
There is now talk of sugar tax and next is salt tax. They will hurt the poor who stupidly voted for Obambi.
They will raise dividend taxes too I’m sure, hurting retired people. They are determined to create a 10 year depression, and they will succeed.
This means charitable donations, and every other possible deduction allowed will be reduced to a meager amount, ensuring those near the threshold will pay through the nose.
Bad news for charities.
The AGI and gross won't be appreciably different after a bunch of "phaseouts" are applied. Obama wants to eliminate itemized deduction of state income and property taxes on your federal income tax filing. Unless you have a large amount of mortgage interest, you might not have enough itemized items to do better than the standard deduction.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.