Free Republic

Without congressional action, at the end of 2012 the so-called “Bush-Era tax cuts” will expire, impacting nearly all taxpayers. Bush-Era tax cuts is the term generally used for the 2001 and 2003 Tax Reconciliation Acts. These changes were to last only 10 years, but a 2010 Tax Act extended the cuts until the end of 2012.... Let’s take a look at the following couple. They are doing well, having combined wages of $125,000. They have 2 young children, $2,000 of capital gains, and $500 of dividend income. Under current rules, they would have a federal income tax of $15,810. However,...

From Mitt Romney to Warren Buffett, people are clamoring for fairer taxes. But thanks to yet another lapse by our lawmakers in Washington, more than 20 million taxpayers may pay a tax that was originally designed to hit only the ultra-rich -- and the increase could cost you as much as $8,000. When it was first designed, the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, was meant to make taxes more fair. The idea behind the AMT was to make sure that rich people didn't use deductions to zero out their taxes every year. Because of inflation, though, the AMT threatens to...