Backdoor taxes to hit middle class

[tcmgpt13]

Here is what is left of a tax story which Reuters posted online today and quickly withdrew. Guess someone is trying to keep this a secret? Still the cat is out of the bag folks, at least what is left of the story that someone (guess who?) does not want the public to hear. So much for promised transparency.

Backdoor taxes to hit middle class

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Terri Cullen Reuters

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.

Additional quote from the article from another forum--looks like it effects not just those in higher tax brackets but those in lower tax brackets too. So much for not raising taxes on those fortunate enough to be middle class (those who are left). Oh, and btw, the Canadian Yahoo story is now pulled too, but not before this person copied this:

Censorship? Backdoor taxes to hit middle class « ElsaElsa Boards


Elsa No here is the article on Yahoo Canada
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/1..._backdoortaxes
"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."

Sorry, I recalled my numbers wrong...

[tcmgpt13]

I just found the entire story on another forum. Just have to love the freedom that, so far, still exists on the internet. This tax hike will effect families who make as little as $45,000 (or $33,750 if single). So much for only taxing the wealthy:

Obama Coming In The Backdoor! - Topic Powered by Social Strata

Mon Feb 1, 4:09 PM

By Terri Cullen

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-fre

[fracty]

Thanks for posting this TCM! You are right! Nothing has been transparant and we need to put a stop to this!!!

Despite the M, one thing I still do is keep most of my politicians on speed dial and I occasionally go through long lists and call ones from all over. If I had a free fax that would do redial automatically I would do that too.

This is OUR government, OUR country, NOT theirs!!! I do not know why some think they are above us. We need to remind them who is in charge.

A good way to start is NOT letting ourselves get fooled by network news and newspaper propaganda. You avhe to do yoru own research and look a bit deeper. It's hard w the M tho. Maybe they gave me a micky of it to slow down the calls and protests.

Thanks for pointing this out. We need to get on the phone and tell every single politician NO tax increase! They need to manage better without cutting!! And NO crazy health plan that will give us LESS CARE for WAY MORE MONEY!!!

[tcmgpt13]

Yes, we need to be aware of what is going on as much of what is going on lately is not going to help our nation survive. There is a feast going on and it is not being shared with average citizens who have yet to see that the economy is improving. There does seem to be a Marie Antoinette party in Washington lately. Ah well, so folks are out of work and often out of their houses. Let's take more of what they have left and party on. Marie was alleged to have said "Let them eat cake" when told the average person could not afford even a loaf of bread.

Although the story of her saying this exact phrase is probably not true the decadence demonstrated by the French aristocracy at that time was not a fabrication. It was absolutely true, especially at the French court. The price of bread in the year of the French revolution (1789) was priced beyond the reach of the average French peasant and many were starving. While the details of the story were probably fiction the tales of rich aristocrats who partied on while people starved are quite true and mirror much of what is going on today in the capital city of our nation.

[carla]

This is just a dip in the Abyss compared with what they have in store for us.
Has anyone read Agenda 21? It is an official government document.

[KiraErikson]

Back in law school in the 1980s, I was taught by my Trusts professor that at some point the American govt. was going to have to have a year when there would be no estate tax. This was because the super wealthy had all placed their great wealth in trusts to avoid taxes. These trusts had to expire at some point beyond "life in being plus 50 years." The "life in being" could be a baby who was inheriting the wealth at the time the trust was made. However, assuming a 60 year life span plus 50 years, sooner or later, the U.S. govt. would be collecting trillions from the super rich (as their trusts were forced to expire).

Nice to see that Congress has "forgotten" to get around to getting the estate tax reinstated in 2010. Instead, Congress let the super wealthy know exactly which year they needed to make their trusts end (2010), many years in advance. Even if the estate tax is reinstated in 2010, I strongly doubt it will be retroactive to the beginning of 2010 (got to leave the super wealthy their Jan. and Feb. loophole). Thus wealth can pass to new lives in being now living, and the rich get another 50 years in addition.

My guess is that but for this farce on the American people -- we could balance the national budget this year. Additionally, aging middle class parents have to feel guilty about not dying this year to save their family's from possibly having to pay estate taxes on everything over $1 million next year (the $3.5 million exemption has yet to be extended).

You have no idea how bitter I feel about this. Almost as bitter as I am about having been deliberately sprayed with the Morgellons bug. I heard the plane, I felt the stuff land on me -- and I had a strong reaction very quickly -- plus I pulled a piece of nano art out of my first huge (6"x6") lesion -- a perfectly created human skull that I was able to photography with magnification. The photo was frightening to friends I showed it to. I figure they include the nano art to make people think we're crazy when we mention it.

And, when I say bitter, I mean that I keep this feeling on an intellectual level. I refuse to be bitter emotionally. However, I am almost well now, and although it may take a year more to take care of the urgent stuff in my life I've had to neglect for a year (as I battled for my life) -- I will investigate this -- starting with the plane. I believe it was part of an aerial spraying program in Santa Monica -- supposedly for West Nile Virus mosquitoes.

[KiraErikson]

I forgot to add that the easiest way to give Americans cheap health care would be to allow us to buy drugs overseas. Even with healthcare drug coverage, the cost of the Stromectol that saved my life would have been $130.00 a day, every day for several months. However, buying the anti parasite medication from India, it was only a $1.00 a day. Of course, the FDA wasted time confiscating my life saving drugs. Fortunately, an FDA official happened to be compassionate as an individual and forwarded these drugs on, saving my life. I just lucked out with the individual. In the past, I actually have had a US govt. agency threaten me with being jailed permanently as a drug dealer (for buying drugs which were clearly for my own use only).

Unfortunately, there is no doubt in my mind that within the U.S. govt. are factions of people that intend to kill American citizens using "stealth genocide" in the foods we eat, etc. A lot of these people were not born in America. I know this stuff as I was engaged to a man with a high security clearance who had the job of helping get rid of these people. Unfortunately, they killed him with a biological weapon as the age of 42.

[carla]

Hi Kira,TC and Fracty,
I'm in the UK and exactly the same thing is going on here.I 'm really bothered by it .
A new Death tax is being brought in so that they can everything when someone dies and their Children get nothing.
The Government control our Health System and Food supplies.
We have cameras watching our every move but whenever a serious crime happens the cameras weren't working that day.

Unbelievable Article in todays papers.....................

And poorer people would lose out the most, leaving their children with next to nothing to inherit, analysis showed yesterday.
In some cases the new levy could be as high as 100 per cent.

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Labour’s ‘100 %' death tax

[fracty]

Carla and everyone else who posted here! I completely agree w all you have said, and we need to keep these things in the open.

Obama obviously did not live up to his promise of "transparency" (among other promises not lived up to), and we need to keep these things public. If we do not stand up and try to stop these attacks on our freedom, we will lose it!!

Having the 'M' makes it so much more challenging, but even little things help!

Carla, I do not know about Agenda 21, but I do know about the cameras and other surveillance. I used to work as a consultant to various tech and biotech companies and the things some of them are doing are wonderful from a science standpoint, but terrifying from a social/freedom standpoint.

I call my senators all the time protesting things Obama and others are trying to sneak in (just as he snuck in the hate crime thing in the defense bill). If enough of us call it helps. For you UK ppl, I'm not sure about your options, but maybe calling works for you as well.