From now until 2018 there will be 20 new or higher taxes thanks to the Affordable Care Act, which is also known as Obamacare. So far it looks like Obamacare isn’t too affordable. Here are the five new taxes that will hit your wallet in 2013.
1. The ObamaCare Medical Device Manufacturing Tax
2. The ObamaCare High Medical Bills Tax
3. The ObamaCare Flexible Spending Account Cap
4. The ObamaCare Surtax on Investment Income
5. The ObamaCare Medicare Payroll Tax increase
Here are explanations for each of those taxes.
1. The ObamaCare Medical Device Manufacturing Tax
This 2.3 percent tax on medical device makers will raise the price of (for example) every pacemaker, prosthetic limb, stent, and operating table. Can you remind us, Mr. President, how taxing medical devices will reduce the cost of health care? The tax is particularly destructive because it is levied on gross sales and even targets companies who haven’t turned a profit yet.
These are often small, scrappy companies with less than 20 employees who pioneer the next generation of life-prolonging devices. In addition to raising the cost of health care, this $20 billion tax over the next ten years will not help the country’s jobs outlook, as the industry employs nearly 400,000 Americans. Several companies have already responded to the looming tax by cutting research and development budgets and laying off workers.
2. The ObamaCare High Medical Bills Tax
This onerous tax provision will hit Americans facing the highest out-of-pocket medical bills. Currently, Americans are allowed to deduct medical expenses on their 1040 form to the extent the costs exceed 7.5 percent of one’s adjusted gross income.
The new ObamaCare provision will raise that threshold to 10 percent, subjecting patients to a higher tax bill. This tax will hit pre-retirement seniors the hardest. Over the next ten years, affected Americans will pony up a minimum total of $15 billion in taxes thanks to this provision.
In addition to the religious liberty infringements that Obamacare presents us with there are also the economic ramifications on America that we must be concerned with which makes it imperative for us to repeal this law to stop this out of control leviathan state.
Filed under: Constitution, Economics, Economy, Health Care Tagged: Affordable Care Act, big government, flexible spending account, government, health care, investment income, leviathan, medical device, medicare, Obamacare, payroll, State, tax increase, taxes
