Health Reform: Ways and Means OKs Surtax
The House Ways and Means Committee has approved the revenue portion of a House health care reform bill, H.R. 3200. Nearly all of the new revenues are raised from a surtax that would apply to high income taxpayers. The proposed surtax would apply to adjusted gross income, which includes salaries, capital gains, dividends, Schedule C income (which is net business income, not gross), taxable Social Security benefits, pension income—any  income item reflected on the front page of a Form 1040. Surtax is progressive, just like regular income tax. Its brackets are 1 percent, 1.5 percent, and 5.4 percent, applied to income in excess of $350,000. A table from NAR looks at the potential impact on a joint return. For more info contact Linda Goold, lgoold@realtors.org, 202/383-1083.