By Stephen Ohlemacher,ASSOCIATED PRESS
It’s probably never a bad time to be rich. But the good times for America’s wealthy could soon be a little less so.
President Obama wants to boost income taxes for the wealthy to pay for tax cuts for everybody else. He wants to limit the deductions that high-income families take for mortgage interest and charity contributions to help pay for providing more people with health insurance.
Meanwhile,House Democrats are planning to hit the wealthy with even higher income taxes to pay for their version of a health care overhaul.
Between the plans,a family of four with an income of $5 million a year would see its annual income taxes skyrocket by more than $440,000. A similar family making $800,000 a year would get a tax increase of $30,000,according to an analysis by the financial services firm Deloitte Tax.
"I still think being wealthy is better than being poor,"Clint Stretch,who heads tax policy at Deloitte Tax,said with a touch of understatement. "But this is a pretty high proposed tax burden."
Taxing the rich to pay for health insurance would represent a significant departure from the way Americans have financed their safety net in the past.