How Will Your Taxes Change?

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Ben Franklin wrote the only certainties in life are death and taxes. And perhaps taxes are just death by a thousand cuts – but those cuts keep changing.

CNN has a good breakdown of how taxes might change this election, based on proposals from presidential contenders Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Here’s a sample…

Individual income tax rates: They are currently 10%, 15%, 25%, 33%, and 35%. Those rates are scheduled to expire at the end of the year and higher rates will take their place. The increases would affect those who report wage and business income on individual returns.

Obama: Would make those Bush-era tax rates permanent for everyone except those making more than $200,000 ($250,000 if married). For those high-income households, Obama would preserve the Bush tax rates at the low end (10%, 15% and 25%) but raise the top two rates to 36% and 39.6%.

Romney: Would reduce each of the Bush-era income tax rates by 20%. So the top rate would fall to 28% and the bottom rate would fall to 8%.

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