Thursday, January 3, 2013
The main reason is the elimination of the payroll tax.
Despite the House and Senate reaching a Fiscal Cliff deal, 77 percent of Americans will pay more in taxes in 2013. That's because even though just 1 percent of households will pay higher income taxes, an increase in federal payroll taxes will hit nearly every wage earner, according to analysis by the Tax Policy Center. Individuals earning between $40,000 and $50,000 a year face an average tax increase of $579 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center's analysis. The average U.S. worker would pay $679 more in taxes this year under the fiscal cliff deal passed by the Senate early Tuesday morning, while the average member of the top 1 percent of earners would pay $73,633 more, according to Tax Policy Center analysis. The increases are …
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
The agreement reached between the White House and Congress doesn't address spending cuts and leaves another potential debt limit showdown on the table. It also increases taxes on income over $400,000. Is this a deal that works for you?
After a marathon holiday negotiation session, after grumbling by liberal senators and after a near-revolt by conservative representatives, the fiscal cliff deal was approved by the House of Representatives late Tuesday night. The bargain will increase taxes on income above $450,000 for families, increase capital gains taxes, permanently fix the alternative minimum tax, change the estate tax and provide some changes in deductions. It also will extend unemployment benefits, earned income tax credits and other tax breaks for the working class. The Washington Post has a cheat sheet with all of the details. Middle class taxpayers will still see a smaller paycheck in 2013; The payroll tax cut was not preserved as part of the fiscal cliff deal. …
The approved bill eases portions of the so-called "fiscal cliff."
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a deal late Tuesday to ease portions of the so-called "fiscal cliff," according to the Huffington Post. The compromise was approved by the Senate at 2 a.m. Tuesday, and despite talk of rejecting it, the House ultimately passed the bill by a vote of 257 to 167. Sens. John Kerry, D-MA, and Scott Brown, R-MA, both supported the measure in the Senate. The entire Mass. delegation voted for the deal, including retiring congressman Barney Frank, D-Newton. He was on WBUR earlier today to speak about the deal. "The deal that we have is not good from my standpoint, but it's the best we could get," Frank said in an interview with WBUR. Other representatives, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Malden, Rep. John Tierney, D-…
Thursday, December 27, 2012
President, Congress have just a few days to avert automatic tax increases and spending cuts. A number of Massachusetts Congressman suggest cutting nuclear programs instead.
Starbucks baristas are writing "come together" on all cups in the Washington, DC, area to encourage Congress and the President to come together to fix the fiscal cliff issue. For more information about this initiative, go to www.patch.com/fixthedebt. Congress and President Obama are racing against the clock this week as they make one last attempt to hammer out a deal to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” the U.S. government is set to go over on New Year’s Day. Without a compromise deal to lower the deficit, the government will face a self-imposed deadline that triggers both spending cuts and higher taxes. Congress itself set the Jan. 1 deadline after failing to come to a budget compromise earlier this year. On Jan. 1, the George W. Bush-…
Monday, December 10, 2012
A study finds that Bay Staters will pay more if the child and college tuition tax credits expire.
More than half a million Massachusetts families will pay more in taxes if the federal government doesn't reach an agreement on the tax code by the end of the year, a study reported in the Boston Globe found. The child tax credit is set to expire if Congress doesn't reach a deal on the so-called "fiscal cliff." The tax credit affects 562,000 lower- and middle-class familes, currently saving each about $1,000 a year. Another group of tax credits set to expire includes college tuition credits, an increase that would affect 217,000 families, according to the story. Small businesses would be affected if the federal government falls off the "fiscal cliff," too. If no deal is brokered, next year these businesses will only be able to claim $25,…
Friday, December 7, 2012
Gov. Deval Patrick announced plans to cut the state's local aid for the current fiscal year. But what could that mean for Needham?
Earlier this week, Governor Deval Patrick's office proposed a series of cuts aimed at closing up a half-billion dollar budget gap. The bulk of the cuts come from spending cuts in the Executive Branch, but some affect local programs or education. Many of these cuts will need legislative approval before they go into effect for the current fiscal year. According to a press release about the proposal, "The governor’s proposed plan ensures virtually all impacted programs and services will receive no less funding than last year and that no cuts will be made to Chapter 70 education funding." In particular, Patrick's proposal cuts $11.5 million from the state's Special Education Circuit Breaker reimbursement program, a move that the governor …
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Massachusetts Democrats in Congress want to avoid cuts in benefits as part of any deal, but proposals such as raising the eligibility age for Medicare are still on the table. What would you do?
As Congress negotiates a deal to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" on Jan. 1, Massachusetts' congressional representatives have voiced their opposition to any cuts in benefits such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the Boston Globe reports. However, there are proposals still on the table that would change those benefit programs, including linking Social Security benefits to a more conservative inflation index that would slightly reduce annual increases, or raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. The Globe reported that while the Bay State's legislators were united against changes to Social Security, there's some wiggle room on Medicare. Rep. Ed Markey opposes raising the Medicare eligibility age; Rep. Michael …
Michael Fleming
10:15 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
I'm gonna agree with that Mike! more ›