Freedom Line Blog

As Americans awake from the annual Christmas spending spree, a new set of bills is coming due in January – Obamacare-related taxes and fees.

The New York Post offers a summary:

·    A 2 percent levy on every health plan, which is expected to net about $8 billion for the government in 2014 and increase to $14.3 billion in 2018

·    A $2 fee per policy that goes into a new medical research trust called the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute

·    Insurers pay a 3.5 percent user fee to sell medical plans on the HealthCare.gov website, which is passed onto consumers

·    A 2.3 percent medical device tax that will inflate the cost of items such as pacemakers, stents and prosthetic limbs

·    An added 0.9 percent Medicare surtax on top of the existing 1.45 percent Medicare payroll tax for families making over $200,000 and individuals making more than $250,000 annually

·    The same groups will also pay an extra 3.8 percent Medicare tax on unearned income, such as investment dividends, rental income and capital gains

The government Grinches even swiped the income tax deduction for medical expenses that exceed 7.5 percent of a person’s annual income. In 2014 it will jump to 10 percent.

‘Tis the season for a heavier tax burden.