Tax Increases Under the Affordable Care Act

Lost in the rhetoric about the fiscal cliff and whether all or any part of the so-called Bush tax cuts were to be extended beyond December 31 was the fact that, in any event, a significant number of individuals, trusts and estates will be subject to increased taxes in 2013 as a result of the revenue provisions contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010). Taxpayers with incomes above certain threshold amounts will be subject to additional taxes that will be imposed on net investment income and all forms of compensation, including wages, income from self-employment and taxable fringe benefits.

New Sections 3101(b)(2) and 1401(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code impose an additional Medicare tax of 0.9 percent on all forms of taxable compensation, including wages and income from self-employment, earned by any individual above a threshold amount and received on or after January 1. An individual is liable for this additional Medicare tax if wages or income from self-employment exceeds $250,000 for married individuals filing jointly or $200,000 for singles. For married couples filing joint returns, the compensation of both spouses is aggregated for this purpose.