proposing a tax on the middle class in the new plan code name broken promises :-)
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 59 years. meep |
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Nice try. Thanks for playing.
I see your ATR and raise you the Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/article/What-the-President-s-Tax/151297/ A handful of higher education tax deductions including 529 would be replaced by a broader umbrella tax credit. The only 529 deductible expense that would be rolled back and not covered under the new model is the one that lets junior('s parents) write off the cost of his Play Station. Tax code is simpler and the benefits are more broadly available to people in lower brackets. |
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you missed a spot
Under current law, earnings growth in 529 plans is tax-free if account distributions are used to pay for college tuition and fees. The Obama plan will tax earnings in these accounts even if they are used to pay for college tuition and fees. separated it into two blocks to make for easier reading Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 59 years. meep |
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IOW, the wealthy used to get a tax break to send junior to expensive schools.
Whitehouse Fact Sheet: Middle class families today bear too much of the tax burden because of unfair loopholes that are only available to the wealthy and big corporations. In his State of the Union address, the President will outline his plan to simplify our complex tax code for individuals, make it fairer by eliminating some of the biggest loopholes, and use the savings to responsibly pay for the investments we need to help middle class families get ahead and grow the economy. Do you think that internet access and PCs should be deductable only for people with 529 plans? Q. What is new this year with 529 plans? It's mainly a racket for the rich (who are about the only people able to sock away tens of thousands of dollars for college these days). It's good that Obama is proposing to get rid of the abusive features and make the system fairer. My $0.02. Cheers, Scott. |
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I imagine you don't like health care savings plans either
the workers get tax free money to pay for government paid health plans (government employees) but the self employed get to pay taxes first then try to save for healthcare. Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 59 years. meep |
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I don't imagine too many self-employed people have 529s.
You're right that self-employed people (and "contractors") get screwed over by the federal tax system. I remember what it was like to be a "contractor". The solution isn't to construct a tax system that the wealthy get the vast majority of the benefits from that the self-employed can also occasionally claim. HSAs are a racket, too. HSAs, a snake-oil favorite of right-wingers, are tax-sheltered savings schemes that typically come with high-deductible health insurance policies attached. If you need a doctor, you can dip into the savings account, because you’re going to have to pay thousands of dollars out of your own pocket before the insurance kicks in. But you knew I'd say that. ;-) Cheers, Scott. |
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well since the fed has decimated the savings market
the only benefit is investing pre tax dollars. An HSA doesnt need to have a health plan attached. Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 59 years. meep |
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I don't like HSA's.
For the past two years, we could choose: traditional or HSA. The traditional plan costs more, but only slightly. With the HSA, you pay the first 4 grand for healthcare and 2 grand on top of that for meds each year entirely out of your own pocket. Then the insurance picks up the rest. The rub? The "here's your insurance, but you pay the first 6 grand for healthcare on top of the insurance premiums you're paying to cover any expenses above 6 grand" costs a whopping $100/month less than the traditional plan. Thus, the HSA is a way for us to pay a private health insurance company over 3 grand a year for absolutely nothing. In the past 55 years, I've never had a single year where my healthcare costs were over 6 grand. Now, I'm older, but the only way these HSA's make any sense at all is if (1) You suffer a catastrophic event. (2) You've already been diagnosed with an expensive chronic disease. |
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Dean Baker is befuddled. A freakout over $0.18/week in higher taxes?
CEPR: The NYT seems to be backsliding again in its commitment to put numbers in context. A NYT article on the prospects of tax reform threw around many big numbers which would almost certainly be meaningless to nearly all of its readers. I figure it's a talisman. It adds up to a decent amount of money, but was demagogued into a huge tax increased even though it isn't. Such is political and economic discourse these days. :-( Cheers, Scott. |