(Alexandria, VA) -- Santa Claus isn't the only one making a list and checking it twice -- the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) has compiled a guide to the 10 biggest tax issues affecting Americans' wallets in the upcoming Congress, and the items are looking much more naughty than nice.
"The arrival of a President who's seeking more revenues and a Congress whose majority seems willing to oblige him could mean the New Year won't be a very happy one for taxpayers," said NTU Director of Government Affairs Kristina Rasmussen, who authored the issue brief. "These 10 tax hikes all have a strong likelihood of being considered at some point in 2009 or 2010 -- and at least one of them might be among the first bills considered in the opening weeks of the 111th Congress."
NTU Issue Brief #170, "New Year, New Fears: Ten Tax-Hike Threats in the 111th Congress," outlines the following major tax threats:
1. Repeal/Expiration of the 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts;
2. Payroll Tax Increases;
3. Smaller Alternative Minimum Tax Patches;
4. Imposition of ?Windfall Profits? Energy Taxes;
5. Modification of Health Care Tax Treatment;
6. Increase in the Federal Excise Tax on Cigarettes;
7. Increase in the Federal Excise Tax on Gasoline;
8. Approval of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project;
9. Repeal of Tax Protections for Retirement Savings; and
10. Attack on Earnings Deferral and International Tax Competition.
"These potential tax hikes likely will undergo mutations as they move through the legislative process," Rasmussen concluded. "Without a doubt, taxpayers need to be on their guard next year and in 2010 if they hope to keep the government from digging deeper into their pockets."
NTU is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, smaller government, and economic freedom at all levels. Note: NTU Issue Brief #170, "New Year, New Fears: Ten Tax-Hike Threats in the 111th Congress," is available online at www.ntu.org.