Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Democrat's Tax Agenda - You Pay More

“I can make a firm pledge, under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”

— President Barack Obama, September 12, 2008

Thursday, April 15, 2010, is Tax Day, the deadline for Americans to send their-hard earned money to Washington. Sadly, the current level of taxation is not enough to pay for the ongoing Democrat expansion of government. Since January 2009, Democrats have raised taxes by $679.3 billion, including $569 billion for ObamaCare. All told, there have been 14 violations of the President’s pledge not to raise taxes on those who make less than $250,000 a year. But it doesn’t end there - more is in store:

President’s Budget: The President’s Budget proposes to increase taxes by more than a trillion dollars, including:

$968 billion tax increase on upper-income families and small businesses:
$364 billion from expanding the top two income tax brackets and reinstating the 36 percent and 39.6 percent rates.

$105 billion from increasing the tax rate on capital gains and dividends from 15 percent to 20 percent.

$208 billion by reinstating the personal exemption and limitation on itemized deductions.

$291 billion by limiting the itemized tax deduction to 28 percent of value.

$49 billion tax by reducing the “tax gap,” the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid.

$122 billion in higher taxes related to changes in the U.S international tax rules and enforcement.

$90 billion in tax increases imposed on financial institutions, referred to as a “financial crisis responsibility fee,” which will be passed onto consumers.

$59 billion in tax increases associated with the repeal of “last-in, first-out” inventory accounting practices, which assumes that an entity sells, uses or disposes of its newest inventory first.

$40 billion in tax increases related to the repeal of tax credits for the production of natural gas, oil, and coal fuels.

$24 billion in increased taxes on carried interest, levied on investment partnerships by treating carried interest as normal income, more than doubling the tax rate from 15 percent to 39.7 percent.

Fiscal Commission: In an attempt to levy more taxes upon the American people, President Obama created a fiscal commission to address our looming fiscal crisis. The commission, comprised of a Democratic majority, will be tasked with presenting Congress with options for tackling the unsustainable imbalance resulting from entitlement programs. Unfortunately, Democrats have refused to take tax increases off the table and are likely to use the guise of a “bipartisan” commission to further increase taxes on the American people.

Value-Added Tax: The more than a trillion dollars in proposed tax increases in the President’s Budget hasn’t stopped the Obama Administration from searching for additional ways to increase revenues through disguised tax increases. There is now discussion of imposing a European style value-added tax [VAT].

The value-added tax is a type of national sales tax, imposed on the valued-added at each stage of production that applies to countless products and services. With small incremental taxes at each phase of production, increasing taxes is easy— and less noticeable. A tax of this sort would increase the costs of every day household and small business items and services, which would significantly impact low to middle income Americans.

On April 15, millions of American taxpayers will file their income taxes. This day will be a sad reminder of how the Democrats have squandered their hard-earned money to expand the size of government, bail out Wall Street, enact a failed stimulus, and enlarge our unsustainable entitlement programs. Taxpayers should not be further punished because Washington’s fiscal house is out-of-control. It is time, especially during this difficult economic recession, for Congress to help alleviate the tax burden of hard-working Americans and set an example of being fiscally responsible.

Read more at www.gop.gov

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