Taxes to Rise, Unless...

The mighty Veronique de Rugy outlines several taxes that will go up unless the Bush tax cuts of 2001/2003 are extended before January 2011. Among them are:

• The estate tax will return to pre-2001 levels, socking estates worth more than $1 million with a 55 percent tax.
• The capital gains tax on most assets will jump from 15 percent to 20 percent.
• Dividends currently taxed at 15 percent will skyrocket to individual tax rates that go as high as 39.6 percent.
• The Making Work Pay tax break will cease to exist.
• The Alternative Minimum Tax will hit the middle class for 2010 tax returns.
• A slew of tax breaks that expired last year, including credits for research and development expenses and relief for college tuition, will not be available for 2010 tax returns.
• The Child Tax Credit will revert from $1,000 to $500.

When combined with inaction on the Bush tax cuts affecting marginal rates, taxpayers would be hit with a tax increase that easily tops $4 trillion over the decade if all the tax issues are untouched. Next year’s increase alone would amount to over $200 billion, according to Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee.

What Ms. de Rugy doesn't ask is: Why weren't these made permanent in the first place? To which the answer is sadly obvious: the Republicans who managed to get them passed didn't have enough guts to go all the way. Let's hope the new crop coming in this January will have more.