Obama Aims $1.4 Trillion Tax Increase at Highest Earners
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama called for $1.4 trillion in fresh revenue from Americans at the top of the income scale, proposing higher taxes on wages and investments and limiting breaks for retirement savings and health insurance.
The tax proposals in the administration’s fiscal 2013 budget plan, released yesterday, were immediately rejected by business groups and congressional Republicans, who said the ideas are part of Obama’s re-election strategy and gave them little chance of advancing into law in 2012.
“Whether this occurs in Congress this year or this is the tax platform for this year’s election, it’s disconcerting for businesses,” said Caroline Harris, chief tax counsel at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business group.
In what he billed a bid for tax fairness and deficit reduction, Obama reversed his previous policy of taxing dividends more lightly than wage income. The budget plan would raise $206.4 billion over 10 years by treating dividends as ordinary income for married couples making more than $250,000 a year and individuals making more than $200,000.
