Which April 15 would you rather have?

 

 

Current Law

 

McCain

 

Obama

Top Tax Rate

35%

35%

39.6%

Lowest Tax Rate

10%

10%

15%

Capital Gains Rate

15%

15%

20%

Dividends Rate

15%

15%

39.6%

Death Tax

0% by 2010
(Repealed)

15%/$10 million

55%/$1 million

Marriage Penalty

None Under
$150,000

None Under $150,000

Full from Dollar One

Child Tax Credit

$1000

$1000

$500

AMT Rate

28%

0% (Repealed)

28%

Self-Employment Rate

37.9%

37.9%

54.9%

Corporate Income Tax

35%

25%

35%

Business Infrastructure

Long and Complex Depreciation

Full Expensing

Long and Complex Depreciation

The first $5 million ($10 million for a surviving spouse) of an estate would be death tax-exempt

The “marriage penalty” refers to a married couple paying a higher amount of combined income tax than if they each filed taxes as single

The “alternative minimum tax” (AMT) requires taxpayers to calculate their taxes two ways, and pay whichever method results in a higher tax owed

Self-employed taxpayers pay both ordinary income tax and self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare)

The U.S. corporate income tax is currently the second-highest in the developed world.  The average European corporate income tax rate is about 25%

It takes larger businesses several years to deduct machinery and equipment, even though they purchase the business asset in year one (e.g. a computer must be slowly-deducted over six calendar years)