More New Taxes and Fees: How You’ll Pay for Obamacare in 2014

Heritage Foundation, January 1, 2014

Obamacare contains 18 specific tax hikes, mandates, or penalties that cost Americans money, and three new ones take effect in 2014. This is only the beginning—watch how two of these taxes get worse in the years to come.

1. Individual Mandate Tax. The individual mandate is designed to strong-arm individuals into purchasing government-approved health insurance or facing a tax penalty. In 2014, the penalty for not purchasing insurance will be either $95 or 1 percent of annual income (whichever is greater). Very few, if any, people will end up paying just $95, because individuals with an annual income of only $9,500 or less would likely qualify for Medicaid or a hardship exemption from the mandate. The mandate increases drastically in coming years, rising to $325 or 2 percent of income in 2015, and $695 or 2.5 percent of income in 2016—whichever is greater.

2. Health Insurer Tax. One of the largest tax increases in the law is an annual fee imposed on health insurers based on their share of the market. It is estimated to raise $8 billion in 2014 alone. The tax will more than likely be passed on to consumers through premium increases. An actuarial analysis by the consulting firm Oliver Wyman projects that in 2014, this tax will increase premiums by 1.9 percent to 2.3 percent. And the impact will be greater in later years as the tax increases.

3. Reinsurance Fee. This fee isn’t included in the list of 18 tax hikes, but it’s another one that will impact the cost of insurance. Health insurers will have to pay the temporary fee on group health plans to help spread the cost of the covering those in the individual market, inside and outside Obamacare’s exchanges. The fee begins in 2014, costing $63 per covered person and decreasing in 2015 and 2016. Like most taxes and fees, the result will likely be higher insurance premiums.

Read the article!

Report: Obamacare Credits Could Trigger Surprise Tax Bills

From: The Blaze
April 2, 2013
Millions of people who take advantage of government subsidies to help buy health insurance next year could get stung by surprise tax bills if they don’t accurately project their income.

President Barack Obama’s new health care law will offer subsidies to help people buy private health insurance on state-based exchanges, if they don’t already get coverage through their employers. The subsidies are based on income. The lower your income, the bigger the subsidy.

But the government doesn’t know how much money you’re going to make next year. And when you apply for the subsidy, this fall, it won’t even know how much you’re making this year. So, unless you tell the government otherwise, it will rely on the best information it has: your 2012 tax return, filed this spring.

What happens if you or your spouse gets a raise and your family income goes up in 2014? You could end up with a bigger subsidy than you are entitled to. If that happens, the law says you have to pay back at least part of the money when you file your tax return in the spring of 2015.

That could result in smaller tax refunds or surprise tax bills for millions of middle-income families.

CONTINUED:  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/02/report-obamacare-credits-could-trigger-surprise-tax-bills/

TPN—Judson Phillips:  The coming darkness

November 24, 2012

Today is the day after black Friday.  It is really the first day of the American Christmas season.  This should be a season of gladness and joy. 

Unfortunately, as we go into the end of the year and our holiday season, what lurks on the horizon is not glad tidings but instead gloom and more darkness.

What is coming to America and can we do anything about it?

For the next two years, we are going to see the death of the conservative movement in Washington.   The American government, other than some members of the Supreme Court, is going to be a conservative-free zone.

There will still be conservatives in Washington.  There will be conservatives in the Senate and House of Representatives.   However, there will be no conservatives in the leadership and a conservative agenda will not be advanced.  In fact, just the opposite will happen.  A massive liberal agenda will be in full swing, all with the acquiescence of the Republican Party. 

In January, we are going to see massive tax hikes.   First, the Obamacare tax hikes, originally passed in 2010, are going to kick in.    The Bush tax cuts are going to go away.  Obama and the Party of Treason say they want to increase taxes on the rich.  Unfortunately their definition of rich is anyone who is not on Obama’s food stamps. 

Two years ago, when Obama signed the law extending the Bush tax cuts, he pointed out that raising taxes in a soft economy would harm the economy.   That was when he was looking at reelection.  Now that he is a lame duck, he doesn’t care.

Actually, Obama understands tax hikes will push us further into the Great Obama Depression.   This is Obama’s goal.  Remember, Obama is a Marxist who believes America is not the greatest nation in the world but the greatest oppressor nation.

Where are the Republicans?

John Boehner has been busy consolidating power in the House of Representatives.  He now has absolute control over the GOP majority.   Eric Cantor has gone along with Boehner and conservatives who object to Boehner’s surrender first policy and big spending policies are simply out of luck. 

Where are the conservative Republicans in the House?  You will find them in the House.  You won’t find them in the leadership of the House.

Harry Reid’s top priority coming out of this election is “filibuster reform.”  Anytime any idea comes from the Party of Treason with the word reform attached to it, you do not need to read anything beyond the title to know that it is a bad idea. 

Reid wants to eliminate the filibuster, thus making it impossible for Republicans to offer any meaningful resistance in the Senate.  He has already changed the rules in the Senate so that Republicans cannot offer any amendments to bills unless Reid specifically wants the amendment.

In short, he is turning what is supposed to be a deliberative body into little more than his own rubber stamp.

As we go into 2013, John Boehner is going to be raising his freshly laundered white flag of surrender early and often.  He will surrender on taxes.  They are going to go up.   He is going to surrender on the debt ceiling.  He is going to surrender on spending.  The only spending cuts we will see will be in one of the few areas the Constitution specifically mandates a role for the Federal Government.  He will cut the defense budget so that by the time Obama leaves office in 2016, China will be the world’s top military superpower.

Our spending and borrowing will continue to push us on a trajectory towards a Grecian outcome.

We have two choices.

We can surrender or we can fight.

Since I have never been a fan of John Boehner, I say we fight.

Saying we should fight is easy.  Actually doing it is hard.

If we are going fight, we need a plan. 

Here’s a plan. 

CONTINUE READING:

http://www.teapartynation.com/forum/topics/the-coming-darkness?xg_source=activity

Americans for Prosperity: Fall Issues Update

Congress is currently in the middle of its traditional August recess, but they will have a full agenda in September when they return. Tax reform, violating last year’s debt ceiling deal and health care are poised to dominate the policy discourse. We’ll continue to update you about critical developments as they occur.


Staying informed is pivotal to being a good activist. Click below to learn more from our sister organization, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, about these pressing issues for the fall.

•Need to Know: Fiscal Cliff:  January 1, 2013 brings the expiration of the Bush era tax cuts; it will also usher in several new taxes from the President’s health care law. The dramatic increase in taxes will surely hit this weak economic recovery.

•Need to Know: Medicare and IPAB:  Congressman Paul Ryan’s selection as the Republican vice-presidential candidate put a spotlight back on Medicare and the President’s use of a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to control Medicare.

•Need to Know: The Budget Control Act:  Last summer, Congress agreed to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for $1.2 trillion cuts in spending dubbed the sequester. Congress seems poised to undo their agreement from only a year ago.

•Need to Know: Medicaid Expansion:  Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on health care, states now have the option whether to expand their broken, costly Medicaid system.


Sincerely,
Americans for Prosperity

Americans for Prosperity® (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual's right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP has more than 2,000,000 members, including members in all 50 states, and 34 state chapters and affiliates. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

OBAMACARE'S 10 MOST COSTLY TAXES AND FEES!

Below is a list of 10 of Obamacare's most costly taxes and fees, drawn from research performed by tax policy expert Curtis Dubay of The Heritage Foundation:


1. Hospital Insurance Tax. Beginning in 2013, Obamacare increases the Hospital Insurance (HI) portion of the payroll tax from 9 percent to 3.8 percent for families earning more than $250,000 a year and for single filers earning more than $200,000 annually. The increased HI tax is also applied to investment income for the first time. The 3.8 percent surtax on investment income is the most economically damaging tax in Obamacare. And these tax increases won't remain just on families making more than $250,000 a year for long. As the JEC explains, this tax is not indexed to inflation: "This means that in just 10 years from now, the so-called 'high-income' thresholds will have effectively ratcheted down to $152,000 and $190,000 in today's dollars." This tax increase amounts to $210 billion between 2013 and 2019.

2. Mandate Penalties. In 2014, Obamacare's individual and employer mandates go into effect, forcing individuals to purchase coverage and employers to offer coverage to their workers. The penalties paid in association with these mandates are an estimated $65 billion between 2014 and 2019.

3. Health Insurance Provider Fee. Starting in 2014, Obamacare imposes an annual fee on health insurance providers based on each company's share of the total market. This totals a $60 billion tax hike between 2014 and 2019.

4. "Cadillac" Tax. In 2018, Obamacare puts a new 40 percent excise tax on "Cadillac" health plans, meaning plans that cost more than $10,200 for an individual and $27,500 for families. However, this tax is not indexed to medical inflation, causing it to eventually tax "Honda" plans at this rate as well. The JEC points out that "[t]he bulk of revenues from the 'Cadillac' tax would not be paid by platinum health insurance plans, but rather by employees who are forced to exchange tax-free health insurance benefits for taxable wages after employers reduce or eliminate health insurance." This tax amounts to $32 billion in higher taxes in the first two years of its implementation.

5. Prescription Drug Fees. Since 2011, Obamacare has put an annual fee on manufacturers and importers of branded drugs based on each individual company's share of the total market. Between 2011 and 2019, this will amount to a $27 billion tax increase.

6. Ethanol Tax. In 2010, Obamacare excluded ethanol from the existing cellulosic biofuel producer tax credit. This will hike taxes $24 billion from 2010-2019.

7. Medical Device Tax. Beginning in 2013, Obamacare imposes a 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device manufacturers. This will raise taxes on patients needing medical devices, who will ultimately pay the tax through higher prices, by $20 billion from 2013 to 2019.

8. Business Regulation Costs. Beginning in 2012, Obamacare raises corporate taxes through stricter enforcement, because businesses will be required to report more information on their business activities. This will raise taxes $17 billion from 2012 to 2019.

9. Reducing Medical Deductions. In 2013, Obamacare raises the floor on itemized medical deductions from 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income to 10 percent, meaning Americans must spend 2.5 percent more of their income before they get a medical deduction, costing $15 billion from 2013 to 2019.

10. FSA Limits. Starting in 2014, Obamacare limits the amount of pre-tax dollars that taxpayers can deposit in flexible savings accounts (FSAs) to $2,500 a year. This results in an extra $13 billion in taxes from 2014 to 2019.

END OBAMACARE - DEMAND FULL REPEAL - FAX CONGRESS NOW
https://secure.freedomdonations.com/uniteia/repeal/?a=6131-n-uia

THE COMPLETE LIST OF OBAMACARE TAXES

Below is a full list of all taxes that hit Americans, as written into the White House Healthcare Tax. The list is expanded on and explained in the full post over at ATR.


Taxes that took effect in 2010:

1. Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals (Min$/immediate): $50,000 per hospital if they fail to meet new “community health assessment needs,” “financial assistance,” and “billing and collection” rules set by HHS. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,961-1,971

2. Codification of the “economic substance doctrine” (Tax hike of $4.5 billion). This provision allows the IRS to disallow completely-legal tax deductions and other legal tax-minimizing plans just because the IRS deems that the action lacks “substance” and is merely intended to reduce taxes owed. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 108-113

3. “Black liquor” tax hike (Tax hike of $23.6 billion). This is a tax increase on a type of bio-fuel. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 105

4. Tax on Innovator Drug Companies ($22.2 bil/Jan 2010): $2.3 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to share of sales made that year. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,971-1,980

5. Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike ($0.4 bil/Jan 2010): The special tax deduction in current law for Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies would only be allowed if 85 percent or more of premium revenues are spent on clinical services. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,004

6. Tax on Indoor Tanning Services ($2.7 billion/July 1, 2010): New 10 percent excise tax on Americans using indoor tanning salons. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,397-2,399

Taxes that took effect in 2011:

7. Medicine Cabinet Tax ($5 bil/Jan 2011): Americans no longer able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin). Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957-1,959

8. HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike ($1.4 bil/Jan 2011): Increases additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,959

Tax that took effect in 2012:

9. Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2 (Min$/Jan 2012): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957

CONTINUED:  http://atr.org/full-list-obamacare-tax-hikes-a6996