2011 Tax Hikes

A friend of mine sent this to me. It was written six months ago. Some of what is included here has been resolved...but much of it has not. So much for no middle class tax hikes.

In just six months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect.

They will hit families and small business in three great waves on January 1, 2011.

First Waive:
Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These tax cuts are all scheduled to expire on January 1, 2011:

Personal income tax rates will rise.

The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed).

Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will be phased out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:
- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
- The 25% bracket rises to 28%
- The 28% bracket rises to 31%
- The 33% bracket rises to 36%
- The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

Higher taxes on marriage and family.

The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1,000 to $500 per child.

The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level.

The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.

The return of the Death Tax. This year, there is no death tax.

For those dying on or after January 1, 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate.

Higher tax rates on RETIREES, Savers and Investors.

The capital gains tax on investment income will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011.

The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011. A WHOPPING 260% INCREASE!
These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.

Second Wave:
Obamacare
There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare.

Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:

The Medicine Cabinet Tax:
Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).

The Special Needs Kids Tax:

This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2,500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Under tax rules, FSA dollars cannot be used to pay for this type of special needs education.

The HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike:
This provision of Obamacare increase the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent.

Third Wave:
The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes.

When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they will be in for a nasty surprise: many AMT tax relief provisions will have expired. The major items include:

The AMT will not apply to over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year.
These families will have to pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.

Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear. Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or depreciate) equipment purchases up to $250,000.

This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011, all of it will have to be depreciated.


Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the research and experimentation tax credit, but there are many, many others. Combing high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.

Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced.
The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available.

Tax credits for education will be limited.

Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses.

Education Savings Accounts will be cut.

Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed.

The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.

Charitable Contributions from IRAs are no longer allowed.
Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual required minimum distribution. This ability will no longer be there.

PDF Version Read more: http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171##ixzz0sY8waPq1

Now your insurance is INCOME on your W2:
One of the surprises we will find come next year, is what follows - - - a little “surprise” that 99% of us had no idea was included in the “new and improved” healthcare legislation.

Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company.

You will now be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen.

Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your Tax debt. That’s what you’ll pay next year. For many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it’s even worse.

This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the 15% that don’t have insurance and it’s only part of the tax increases.