Federal Tax Watch Special Edition

In addition to the various provisions contained in the new act, a number of new tax laws took effect Jan. 1, 2013, as a result of 2010’s heathcare reform legislation. Hospital insurance tax on high-income individualsThe employee portion of the hospital insurance tax portion of FICA (which funds Social Security), normally 1.45 percent of covered […]

As the New Year’s ball worked its way down its 141-foot drop in the seconds leading up to midnight on Dec. 31, many people wondered if they were seeing the image of the United States dropping over the Fiscal Cliff. But after a hectic 48 hours that ended at about 11 p.m. on New Year’s

Expired business provisions extendedSeveral popular business provisions that had already expired were reinstated retroactively and temporarily extended, including:R&D tax credit – The credit for increasing research and development activities, which expired at the end of 2011, is extended through 2013. A modification allows for partial inclusion of research expenses and gross receipts of an acquired

A common theme of recent tax legislation has been to place most, if not all, of the burden of new taxes on “wealthy” individuals. In so doing, Congress has defined the wealthy as those with an income above a certain threshold. Unfortunately, Congress has chosen multiple different income levels. For example, a married couple filing

Income tax rate increases for the wealthiestThe rate brackets remain as they have been for the past 10 years, adjusted annually for inflation. The six existing tax rates – 10, 15, 25, 28, 33 and 35 percent – are retained. However, beginning Jan. 1, 2013, the act imposes a new 39.6 percent bracket that will