Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Countdown to Obamacare’s (Next) Tax Increases on the Middle Class

At the White House media briefing yesterday, the President and press secretary Jay Carney spoke next to a “countdown clock” listing the time until this year’s temporary payroll tax cut expires.  Given the White House’s sudden interest in preventing tax increases on the middle class, we went back and checked all the middle-class tax increases that take effect just over one year from now:

  • New limits on contributions to Flexible Spending Arrangements, which will affect the 35 million Americans covered under these accounts;
  • Tighter restrictions on deducting medical expenses, which will hit families with particularly high health care costs; and
  • Taxes on medical products and industries, which the Congressional Budget Office and other outside experts agree will be passed on to consumers, raising insurance premiums by as much as $5000 per family over a decade.

Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, there’s a website tool that allows you to count down to Obamacare’s new January 2013 tax increases on the middle class; it’s available here.

Then again, several middle-class tax increases have already taken effect – new restrictions on FSAs and Health Savings Accounts, and Obamacare’s first tax increase, on tanning products, which took effect in July 2010.  A clock showing how long Obamacare has been raising taxes on the middle class – a whopping 523 days and counting – is available here.

And in the interests of bipartisanship, we certainly would have no objections to the White House using these clocks, as a way to show how Obamacare is raising taxes on struggling middle-class families.  Coming soon to a presidential press briefing near you…?