New taxes take effect to fund Affordable Care Act
If you earn over $200,000 a year and you own stocks, you’re going to help fund the Affordable Care Act. Howard Gleckman from the Tax Policy Center says taxes on investment income are going up 3.8 percent.
“That includes interest, dividends, capital gains, all of those kind of investment taxes as well as royalties and such,” he says.
High wage earners will also see a nearly 1 percent increase in their payroll tax. The taxes combined will raise an estimated $120 billion in five years with 85 percent of that paid by the wealthiest Americans.
“We estimate the top 1 percent, on average, will pay $23,000 more in taxes, just on their investment income,” says Gleckman.
The well-heeled aren’t the only ones facing tax increases.
“Pharmaceutical companies, managed care companies and the provider sectors,” will also see hikes says Dan Mendelson, the head of Avalere Health.
Drug companies and insurers will kick in $10 billion in additional fees over the next two years. Mendelson says that’s where the rest of us — the 99 percent — will help pay for the Affordable Care Act, with more expensive prescriptions and health insurance.
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