The wealthy could see their tax burden go up by an average of $14,000 if lawmakers limit itemized de - Polidicks

[quote][B]Taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes of $250,000 or more deducted an average of nearly $91,000 in 2010, according to a CNNMoney analysis of Internal Revenue Service data. If Congress limits deductions to $50,000, folks in this income bracket would be hit harder than others.[/B] Only about one-third of Americans itemize their deductions, and they are mostly the well off. In 2010, only 29.3% of those making between $30,000 and $50,000 itemized, but 96.8% of those making $250,000-plus did. With many Republicans loath to raise tax rates, lawmakers are looking at other ways to raise revenues. One alternative under discussion is curbing the use of deductions, an approach that Mitt Romney championed on the presidential campaign trail. The most popular deduction among wealthy itemizers? State and local income taxes. [B]Nearly 96% of those in the top bracket took advantage of this deduction, lowering their income by an average of nearly $37,000.[/B] The tax break made up 40% of their total deductions, versus only 15.5% for the middle class -- defined as those earning $50,000 to $100,000. The deduction for charitable donations was also a common one among the rich, with just over nine in 10 of them taking an average deduction of $19,650. It accounted for 20.4% of their deductions, compared to 12% for those in the middle income bracket. [B]"These deductions are more important to [the rich] than to the typical taxpayer," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.[/B] One deduction that favors middle class taxpayers was home mortgage interest, making up 38% of all their deductions, but only half that share for the wealthy. That's likely because some wealthy homeowners don't have mortgages, Williams said. A scant 1.9% of the rich claimed the tax break for medical expenses, which only allowed taxpayers to deduct the amount above a threshold of 7.5% of their income. That's a harder bar to hit for those with big incomes. This deduction is most beneficial for the low-income since health care expenses can quickly swamp their meager salaries. For the few itemizers with incomes of between $15,000 and $30,000, this tax break made up a quarter of their deductions.[/quote] Source: [url]http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/10/news/economy/rich-tax-deductions/index.html[/url] Honestly, I thought it would be a lot higher than $14,000

Oh no! Such a tragedy!

Oh, the economy!

It isn't much, but its a start

Yeah, somehow I think they'll manage to survive.

Oh no, they'll have to wipe their ass with 1 dollar bills instead of 50's. But seriously, it's a step in the right direction, but they'll have to do alot more then this.

I keep trying to write a witty retort to how small an amount that the increase is but it all ends up sounding depressing, so instead I'll say something utterly depressing. Those of us living on the welfare that these taxes bumps help with are supposed to go to live on $8,000 a year and they're trying to say somehow lowering that amount will make the national debt go down instead of basically killing off the poorest people. tl;dr: Fuck this monopoly money shit.

Terrible fucking idea. If they eliminate itemized deductions everything from medical care to college is going to get more expensive. The ability to write off those expenses at the end of the year benefits a lot more people than the benefit of an average of 14k from just the rich to the country. Especially when you're a student making 18k a year waiting tables, that $800 off your tax bill from textbooks can be an awesome boost. Not to mention you can even write off the cost of school itself if you have to pay for it yourself, which is entirely fair. [QUOTE]In 2010, only 29.3% of those making between $30,000 and $50,000 itemized, but 96.8% of those making $250,000-plus did.[/QUOTE] Uh huh, and I wouldn't be surprised if 29.3% of people making between 30k and 50k is 80X the amout of people in the rich bracket. But no this statistic makes it seem so meaningless to everyone! And there's a 200k a year gap in between those numbers.

[QUOTE=SilentOpp;38801389]Terrible fucking idea. If they eliminate itemized deductions everything from medical care to college is going to get more expensive. The ability to write off those expenses at the end of the year benefits a lot more people than the benefit of an average of 14k from just the rich to the country. Especially when you're a student making 18k a year waiting tables, that $800 off your tax bill from textbooks can be an awesome boost. Not to mention you can even write off the cost of school itself if you have to pay for it yourself, which is entirely fair. Uh huh, and I wouldn't be surprised if 29.3% of people making between 30k and 50k is 80X the amout of people in the rich bracket. But no this statistic makes it seem so meaningless to everyone! And there's a 200k a year gap in between those numbers.[/QUOTE] They're not eliminating deductions, they're capping them at $50K. Who, earning below $250K a year, could possibly have that much to deduct?

[QUOTE=theenemy;38801476]They're not eliminating deductions, they're capping them at $50K. Who, earning below $250K a year, could possibly have that much to deduct?[/QUOTE] Married couples filing jointly paying for their kid's college tuition? 50k is low. It's absurdly low. Especialy when you have a mortgage payment and live where home prices aren't cheap.