Obama's and McCain's Tax Proposals

Here is an article on how Obama's and McCain's tax porposals would affect you.

How McCain and Obama will change your tax bill - Jun. 11, 2008

Please see the article for the details. Here is some summary info:

BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS
Here's how the average tax bill could change in 2009 if either John McCain's or Barack Obama's tax proposals were fully in place.

.........................MCCAIN..............OBAMA
Income.............Avg. tax bill.........Avg. tax bill

Over $2.9M.........-$269,364...........+$701,885
$603K and up........-$45,361...........+$115,974
$227K-$603K..........-$7,871...................+$12
$161K-$227K..........-$4,380...............-$2,789
$112K-$161K..........-$2,614...............-$2,204
$66K-$112K............-$1,009...............-$1,290
$38K-$66K................-$319...............-$1,042
$19K-$38K................-$113..................-$892
Under $19K.................-$19..................-$567

McCain: The average taxpayer in every income group would see a lower tax bill, but high-income taxpayers would benefit more than everyone else.

Obama: High-income taxpayers would pay more in taxes, while everyone else's tax bill would be reduced. Those who benefit the most - in terms of reducing their taxes as a percentage of after-tax income - are in the lowest income groups.

Under both plans, all American taxpayers could pay a price for their tax cuts: a bigger deficit. The Tax Policy Center estimates that over 10 years, McCain's tax proposals could increase the national debt by as much as $4.5 trillion with interest, while Obama's could add as much as $3.3 trillion.



Tax policy is not a huge issue for me, but it always seems to me it's the thing that politicians like to fight over most. For me, it's more important that taxes be in line with spending, and we don't continue to add to our huge debt. I've listened to politicians argue this stuff back and forth for years and no matter what happens, no matter who wins, it never really seems to affect me all that much. I've never noticed what I personally pay in taxes to change so much that I really have to change my life in any way. Looks like the same will be true this time --- I'm in a bracket where the difference between Obama and McCain is going to amount to almost nothing. I'll come out a tiny bit ahead with Obama.

I've already heard a lot of people arguing that Obama is going to raise my taxes. Well, it doesn't look like that is the case. From this information, both McCain and Obama will lower my taxes some with Obama lowering them just a bit more. For me, taxes seem like a non-issue.

The deficit is more of an issue for me than taxes, and I must say I'm not pleased with either of these two adding so much to the debt. Although, it looks like McCain will add $1.2 trillion more than Obama --- continuing the trend of Republicans adding more to the debt than Democrats.

For me, taxes aren't going to be an issue this election, I'm deciding based on other more important issues.

How about you? Do you come out better on your taxes with Obama or McCain? Does it matter much?