Hopefully you haven't grown weary of stories about the "fiscal cliff" facing the country at the end of the year, because you're going to be hearing a lot more about it this coming week.
Although the phrase primarily refers to the fact that tax rates on all Americans will return to the higher rates of the Bill Clinton era (including a rise in the highest tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6) on Jan. 1, there are several other factors in play. They include sequestration (automatic spending cuts in both domestic and defense programs) and the payroll tax cut, scheduled to rise from 4.2 percent to 6.2. The latest patch to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is also scheduled to end on December 31.
But for all intents and purposes, the focus is truly on tax rates and sequestration. President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner and their aides will be working intensely on that for the rest of the year. The president is content for the Bush tax cuts to expire on all but those making less than $250,000 at the end of the year. Congressional Republicans say they have a mandate to not allow that to happen.
On Wednesday the Greater Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce weighed in, sending a letter to Senator Bill Nelson and the Tampa Bay area congressional delegation, informing them they should not allow tax breaks for anyone to expire at the end of the year, saying such a move would have "a chilling effect on economic growth that will jeopardize our recovery."
This article appears in Nov 22-28, 2012.