Senate Tax Chair Wants Vote This Year to Raise Taxes on People Making $104,425

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Senate Tax Chair Wants Vote This Year to Raise Taxes on People Making as Little as $104,425
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
By Matt Cover



Sen. Max Baucus (D.-Mont.)
(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal tax law, is seeking a vote this year on legislation that would increase the income tax rates on some Americans who earn as little as $104,425 per year.

The bill, which Baucus introduced Thursday, would fulfill many of President Barack Obama’s promised tax changes, including making most of the tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush permanent while raising taxes on Americans making more than $250,000 per year.

But those making more than $250,000 per year would not be the only ones to see their taxes go up if Baucus’s bill becomes law.

The proposed legislation would raise the rates on the top two income brackets, from the current levels of 33 percent and 35 percent respectively, to 36 percent and 39.6 percent. The new rates would become effective after 2010.

The increase in the rates for these two brackets will affect all taxpayers who fall into these two brackets regardless of their filing status, according to Heritage Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Curtis Dubay, who reviewed the legislation.

That means some taxpayers earning as little as $104,425—far less than half the $250,000 threshold President Obama set for raising income taxes—would see their income tax rate increased.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, the second highest income bracket—currently set at 33 percent—kicks in at an income level of $104,425 for a married person filing separately; $171,550 for someone filing as a single person; $190,200 for someone filing as a head of household; and $208,850 for a married couple filing jointly. Under Baucus’s proposal, the tax rates for all these people would jump to 36 percent.

The highest income bracket—currently 35 percent—kicks in at an income level of $186,475 for a married person filing separately; and $372,950 for all other filing statuses.

After studying the bill, Dubay of the Heritage Foundation told CNSNews.com that unless Congress changes the income levels that the top two tax rates kick in for each filing status, taxes will be increased on many more Americans than previously indicated by the Obama administration. (A spokesman for Baucus confirmed to CNSNews.com that the tax proposal does not change the taxable income levels of each filing status--it raises the two top tax rates across the board.)

For a chart showing the current tax rates and income brackets for all filing statuses in 2009 click here.

The income levels in question are indexed to inflation--meaning they will almost certainly be slightly higher by the time the new tax rates take effect in 2011 if Baucus’s bill passes.

Since 2007, the income level for a married person filing singling in the 33-percent tax bracket has gone up only $6,500, from $97,925 to $104,425.

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