by the Left Coast Rebel
Here is the House Obama/Pelosicare, HR 3962, (PDF version). Before even reading this go here to email every single member of the Blue Dog Caucus. Use the template, make your voice be heard!
The following are new HR 3962 taxes according to Americans for Tax Reform:
Employer Mandate Excise Tax (Page 275): If an employer does not pay 72.5 percent of a single employee’s health premium (65 percent of a family employee), the employer must pay an excise tax equal to 8 percent of average wages. Small employers (measured by payroll size) have smaller payroll tax rates of 0 percent (<$500,000), 2 percent ($500,000-$585,000), 4 percent ($585,000-$670,000), and 6 percent ($670,000-$750,000).
Individual Mandate Surtax (Page 296): If an individual fails to obtain qualifying coverage, he must pay an income surtax equal to the lesser of 2.5 percent of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) or the average premium. MAGI adds back in the foreign earned income exclusion and municipal bond interest.
Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 324): Non-prescription medications would no longer be able to be purchased from health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Insulin excepted.
Cap on FSAs (Page 325): FSAs would face an annual cap of $2500 (currently uncapped).
Increased Additional Tax on Non-Qualified HSA Distributions (Page 326): Non-qualified distributions from HSAs would face an additional tax of 20 percent (current law is 10 percent). This disadvantages HSAs relative to other tax-free accounts (e.g. IRAs, 401(k)s, 529 plans, etc.)
Denial of Tax Deduction for Employer Health Plans Coordinating with Medicare Part D (Page 327): This would further erode private sector participation in delivery of Medicare services.
Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 324): Non-prescription medications would no longer be able to be purchased from health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Insulin excepted.
Cap on FSAs (Page 325): FSAs would face an annual cap of $2500 (currently uncapped).
Increased Additional Tax on Non-Qualified HSA Distributions (Page 326): Non-qualified distributions from HSAs would face an additional tax of 20 percent (current law is 10 percent). This disadvantages HSAs relative to other tax-free accounts (e.g. IRAs, 401(k)s, 529 plans, etc.)
Denial of Tax Deduction for Employer Health Plans Coordinating with Medicare Part D (Page 327): This would further erode private sector participation in delivery of Medicare services.
Surtax on Individuals and Small Businesses (Page 336): Imposes an income surtax of 5.4 percent on MAGI over $500,000 ($1 million married filing jointly). MAGI adds back in the itemized deduction for margin loan interest. This would raise the top marginal tax rate in 2011 from 39.6 percent under current law to 45 percent—a new effective top rate.
Excise Tax on Medical Devices (Page 339): Imposes a new excise tax on medical device manufacturers equal to 2.5 percent of the wholesale price. It excludes retail sales and unspecified medical devices sold to the general public.
Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting (Page 344): Requires that 1099-MISC forms be issued to corporations as well as persons for trade or business payments. Current law limits to just persons for small business compliance complexity reasons. Also expands reporting to exchanges of property.
Delay in Worldwide Allocation of Interest (Page 345): Delays for nine years the worldwide allocation of interest, a corporate tax relief provision from the American Jobs Creation Act
Limitation on Tax Treaty Benefits for Certain Payments (Page 346): Increases taxes on U.S. employers with overseas operations looking to avoid double taxation of earnings.
Codification of the “Economic Substance Doctrine” (Page 349): Empowers the IRS to disallow a perfectly legal tax deduction or other tax relief merely because the IRS deems that the motive of the taxpayer was not primarily business-related.
Application of “More Likely Than Not” Rule (Page 357): Publicly-traded partnerships and corporations with annual gross receipts in excess of $100 million have raised standards on penalties. If there is a tax underpayment by these taxpayers, they must be able to prove that the estimated tax paid would have more likely than not been sufficient to cover final tax liability.
Excise Tax on Medical Devices (Page 339): Imposes a new excise tax on medical device manufacturers equal to 2.5 percent of the wholesale price. It excludes retail sales and unspecified medical devices sold to the general public.
Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting (Page 344): Requires that 1099-MISC forms be issued to corporations as well as persons for trade or business payments. Current law limits to just persons for small business compliance complexity reasons. Also expands reporting to exchanges of property.
Delay in Worldwide Allocation of Interest (Page 345): Delays for nine years the worldwide allocation of interest, a corporate tax relief provision from the American Jobs Creation Act
Limitation on Tax Treaty Benefits for Certain Payments (Page 346): Increases taxes on U.S. employers with overseas operations looking to avoid double taxation of earnings.
Codification of the “Economic Substance Doctrine” (Page 349): Empowers the IRS to disallow a perfectly legal tax deduction or other tax relief merely because the IRS deems that the motive of the taxpayer was not primarily business-related.
Application of “More Likely Than Not” Rule (Page 357): Publicly-traded partnerships and corporations with annual gross receipts in excess of $100 million have raised standards on penalties. If there is a tax underpayment by these taxpayers, they must be able to prove that the estimated tax paid would have more likely than not been sufficient to cover final tax liability.
ROUNDUP:
- Think Progress notes with glee that Sec. 107 outlaws treating domestic violence as a pre-existing condition. Do you even know what to think of that?
- The Weekly Standared weighs in saying that HR 3962 pays for abortions, cuts medicare, raises taxes + fees + the deficit. What’s not to love?
- The Washington Times reports that the House unveiling ceremony for HR 3962 was closed to the public. I repeat, it was closed to the public. Vistitors had to be listed on a pre-approved list.
- Debate begins next week. Boy do I have the list for you, more on that later.
- American Spectator points out that HR 3962 includes a mandate that forces individuals to purchase insurance or pay a tax + the employer mandate. It also includes government-run insurance exchanges. AS also shows that the bill will add a huge new section to the federal tax code: PART VIII: HEALTH CARE RELATED TAXES. Can you imagine this ambiguous section of the code not changing every year? Your liberty is at stake.
UPDATE: Reader Brett Thompson wrote up a great summary of HR 3962, he attempted to go through the 1800 + page bill. He writes :
I just went to skim 1800 pages of HR 3962 Affordable Health Care for America Act.
Go here. (Sign up on this site, track and vote here on Bills)
I got lost after the first page and the references to section and subsections is endless. Has any one person in Congress really read all 1800+ pages? What happened to the paper reduction act? What happened to bills we were going to be able to read? Title 26 of the US Code of Federal Regulations (IRS) started with a small amount of pages (compared to this) and now this mess consists of 16,845 pages according to the US Government Printing Office. If reading some of HR 3962 isn’t enough for you, go read the monster that was created in 1939 with only 504 pages. Click here for the original.
I’ll let the mathematicians figure out what kind of growth that is since 1939, then add that same growth to HR 3962.
I created a static page with his entire letter to me, read it here.
I need to send you the whole collection of pictures I have. Will get on that.
ReplyDeleteThis is not health care reform! It can't be legal either!
ReplyDelete@ RK – I would appreciate that!
ReplyDelete@ Denney – Nor is it constitutional!
We rang the warning bells when HR3200 came out and we were told we were crazy! We "misinterpreted" all of it, the fear-mongers that we are! Well, now it's back and then some! What are they going to call us now?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind paying all these taxes if I thought they were using the money wisely.
ReplyDeleteThe tax for not having insurance makes some sense. If you don’t have money and you don’t have insurance against medical problems, you’re likely to use some kind of medical assistance. It seems fair that those people pay a tax.
I also don’t mind paying higher marginal rates, as long as they’re lower than around 50%. (My MAGI is < 1M, so this would not affect me at this time.) But I hate to see the money wasted. They’re taking this money an “overhauling” everything instead of working out ways to give poor people a boost so they can eventually pay for their own expenses.
@ CJ – Tune in a bit later to my site for more on the tax topic. Of course I respect your opinion and know what you mean here. I think that we need a constitutional amendment in our country to protect the individual against excessive taxation. Perhaps a 35% cap for ANY individual. I do mind paying higher rates, as you say here, big-government will ALWAYS waste OPM, other people's money.
ReplyDeleteThere is a website at www.mywritertools.com that has the new Health Bill 3962 in .doc, .rtf and .pdf versions as well as a program, myWordCount, that lets you easily count and list all words and phrases in the document. It also lets you select a word or phrase and easily go to each occurence in the document. You can get the different versions of the bill at http://www.mywritertools.com/congress.asp
ReplyDeleteI'm back… with my post to:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3962/show
Some of the same in my writing yesterday.
Two thousand plus pages and over one trillion dollars? And someone wants to call that a bill? The mess of a tax code started out at 504 pages in 1939 and now is at 16,845 pages according to the US Government Printing Office. We hire (and pay) tax professionals. With this quagmire of endless legal words and references, we will end up having to hire an HCCP (health care code professional). A bill with a few pages that would state the obvious… insurance across state lines and tort reform that works in 24 states! Are these people who are supposed to be smart, all void of common sense? Try the easy path first! Whoops, working together or giving the "other side" a win might not support the party. Both sides of the isle, can you hear us? We are tired of bickering! We, the people WILL clean House! Pay attention because we are voting as never before!
For those of you who watched what happened on the east coast, look at the statewide results in VA.
ReplyDeleteI would call this a very clear message!
http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Election_Information/Election_Results/2009/November_General_Election.html?race=GOV
HR 3962 Manager's Amendment
ReplyDeleteThe newly released HR 3962 Manager's Amendment is now at http://www.mywritertools.com/congress.asp in pdf, doc and rtf formats. It is only 46 pages but has a very interesting section about biofuels — gee, this looks like pork so I am sure that Obama will follow through on his pledge and delete it.
This petition respectfully requests that President Obama keep true to his word and veto HR 3962 should it cross his desk. The president stated that he "will not sign a bill that raises the deficit". HR 3962 does raises the deficit. Signing this petition indicates strong opposition to HR 3962. Demand that the president keep his word. Sign here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ipetitions.com/petition/vetoHR3962?e
Help get 5,000,000 signatures!