2011: The Year of Taxpayer Uncertainty

In his Tax Foundation article Mark Robyn, addresses the uncertainty of the tax landscape in 2011:

Polls show that many Americans are anxious about their taxes and believe their payments are rising. At first glance this seems like a public misperception because tax policy at the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration has been dominated by a blizzard of tax cuts, most narrowly targeted at a few taxpayers but some broadly benefiting low- and middle-income people. But paradoxically, the people are right to be worried about high taxes. With federal deficits growing and the U.S. debt mounting to alarming levels, Congress will soon need to cut spending or raise taxes to shore up the long-term fiscal outlook.

In the article, Robyn calculates what typical tax returns will look like in 2011 under the tax policies that prevailed before the President Bush was elected, all Bush-era tax changes extended to 2011 (with no changes from President Obama), and combine Bush and Obama policies as outlined in the President’s 2011 budget.

Here is an example of table in the article. The table reveals the taxes owed (+ or -) on typical tax returns:

Tagged as: 2011, George W. Bush, Mark Robyn, President Obama, Tax Foundation, Taxes, Taxpayer, uncertainty