How will the 'fiscal cliff' impact you?
BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) - The average American will pay an extra $3,500 a year if lawmakers can't strike a deal. This political fighting is frustrating for many Boise residents.
"Instead of sitting down and being reasonable and talking about this like we should run a political system, they're saying 'no this is my side, no this is my side,' and we're causing a mass panic that we don't need to towards the people of the country," says Steven Campros, who lives in Boise.
"It's a problem with Congress not being able to compromise on each of the party's main line of ideas, raising taxes and cutting entitlements, and you got to come to the middle," says Lisa Pepin, a Boise resident.
And it's taxpayers, like you, who will take the hit. For example, take a look at these estimates from the Washington Post.
A single person with no children who makes $20,000 a year will see their taxes increase next year by $372. If we go over the cliff... they'll pay more than $800. Their taxes will essentially double...and it gets worse for married people with children.
Families with two children can expect to pay two and a half times as much if Congress doesn't reach a compromise. But it's the middle class and wealthy people over 65 who will get hit the hardest.
Those making about $50,000 a year will pay more than 12 times as much while people earning $120,000 will pay almost 40 times more in taxes.
Less money in your account means less spending which will likely drag the economy down.
"It's just going to take money right out of my pocket. As a business owner people aren't going to have the money to call me to do the business. It's going to effect everybody," says Lou Real, a Kuna resident.
If Congress can't come to an agreement by Tuesday those dramatic tax increases kick in automatically, and 88 percent of American taxpayers will have to pay for it.
Click on the link below to find out how the fiscal cliff will impact your taxes.
How much will my taxes go up?
"Instead of sitting down and being reasonable and talking about this like we should run a political system, they're saying 'no this is my side, no this is my side,' and we're causing a mass panic that we don't need to towards the people of the country," says Steven Campros, who lives in Boise.
"It's a problem with Congress not being able to compromise on each of the party's main line of ideas, raising taxes and cutting entitlements, and you got to come to the middle," says Lisa Pepin, a Boise resident.
And it's taxpayers, like you, who will take the hit. For example, take a look at these estimates from the Washington Post.
A single person with no children who makes $20,000 a year will see their taxes increase next year by $372. If we go over the cliff... they'll pay more than $800. Their taxes will essentially double...and it gets worse for married people with children.
Families with two children can expect to pay two and a half times as much if Congress doesn't reach a compromise. But it's the middle class and wealthy people over 65 who will get hit the hardest.
Those making about $50,000 a year will pay more than 12 times as much while people earning $120,000 will pay almost 40 times more in taxes.
Less money in your account means less spending which will likely drag the economy down.
"It's just going to take money right out of my pocket. As a business owner people aren't going to have the money to call me to do the business. It's going to effect everybody," says Lou Real, a Kuna resident.
If Congress can't come to an agreement by Tuesday those dramatic tax increases kick in automatically, and 88 percent of American taxpayers will have to pay for it.
Click on the link below to find out how the fiscal cliff will impact your taxes.
How much will my taxes go up?
This article was written either with make believe numbers, or it was written in-correctly. I am going to go with a junior writer, who has a poor editor.
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1. people earning $120,000 will pay almost 40 times more in taxes. ---
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If people making 120k a year pay 3k in taxes, ( No way it is that low by the way ) with a 40 times increase it will be 120k . . . hmmm yea, that makes sense.
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2. Those making about $50,000 a year will pay more than 12 times --
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Ok this one is not so blatant but lets assume someone making 50k pays 10% of their income now. ( I know it is higher we are pretending!!! ) That is 5k dollars. Let us times that by 12. Next year they will pay 60k or 10k more then they made.Â
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3. A single person with no children who makes $20,000 a year will see their taxes increase next year by $372. If we go over the cliff... they'll pay more than $800. --
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So a person who makes 20k a year will pay 4% of their total income in taxes. That in comparison to the about 2% they pay now. According to this math. However that is incorrect. The tax bracket they are in is 15% so unless they have deductions like a mortgage, medical bills, or dependents they will be paying 15%. http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/2012-tax-bracket-rates.aspx
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4. The average American will pay an extra $3,500 a year if lawmakers can't strike a deal. This political fighting is frustrating for many Boise residents. ---
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As any Junior High School student can tell you their are Four most common ways to do averages, every kid learns in school. http://www.purplemath.com/modules/meanmode.htm --- They chose the one to give the highest numerical average. The truth is anyone who is not part of the 1% will see numbers far below this "average" Because the top 1% pays 36% of taxes. The top 5% pays 58% of taxes, and the top 10% pays 70% of taxes roughly. http://www.ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html
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I would further like to point out this article in no way reflects the actual numbers used in this article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/tax-cut-scenarios/
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It is like a 8 year old browsed the article, didn't read it, and started making up numbers for a 3rd grade reading report. The actual real numbers of going over the cliff really are not that bad. In fact, the numbers reflect the taxes for 2006 before the great recession.
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Another interesting fact -- The US has the lowest effective tax rate since the 1950's. By effective I mean not just the flat % but that percent taken into account the amount of "deductions" or as the media likes to call them "loopholes"Â A record number of loopholes have been added since 2000-- Here is a chart of the rates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States#History_of_top_rates
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Anyway. There is 20 minutes of research. It might not be the most gramatical :-) but I checked at least three sources you would all recognize for each fact I posted and used the link that best expressed it. So you know I am not pulling numbers out of my back side.
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Also the biggest threat with the fiscal cliff is not taxes on the average American. It is something called "Investor Confidence" a buzz word the media is using. Basicly people who invest in the United States will lose confidence in our ability to manage our debt, because we have not has a budget passed in 3 years.
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Passing a budget is the primary job of congress. I would like to say it is 90% of what they are elected to do. If you keep voting the same people into office you will keep getting the same results. republican democrat green nut job, it doesn't matter. Stop voting for incumbents who are not doing their job.
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Insanity doing the same thing over again expecting different results.
Our elected lawmakers have become ineffective and unable to function. Our government has become so bloated that it is unable to function.Â
Bring on the is so-called Fiscal Cliff. It is the only way we will be able to force a reduction in government spending and a reduction in the size of government.
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For the working person this Fiscal Cliff is a good thing.  Either way there is some fiscal pain to be handled. So "Bring it on!".
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Wall street is AFTER THE FACT OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE, AFTER THE FACT, only for the use by Speculative interest as that of changes in the market price quoted on the exchanges or from the market place for buying and selling for a profit.~~~~whar the worry about wall stree. they do not work through the P&L sheets???
Private enterprise is BEFIRE THE FACT!~~~~bringing asset  money and asset labor together as working capital by the P&L sheets, to create product and service for the use and consumption side to  sell through again the P&I sheets, creating earnings,,costs,  business support expense, income, profits for  balance sheet, and taxes for education and infrastructure for business,