# The Obama Tax Calculator

Staff Emeritus
Gold Member
Estimate the change in your tax liability based on Obama's tax plan.
http://alchemytoday.com/obamataxcut/ [Broken]

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turbo
Gold Member
Could McCain have pulled off this unscripted, unprompted exposition of his tax policies? AND make the numbers add up? I think not.

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Moonbear
Staff Emeritus
Gold Member
I doubted the likelihood that it would be a reliable source (it sounded biased toward Obama), but lo and behold, it told me exactly what I suspected...not enough difference to care. It never matters who is in office, single, successful people always get screwed. Playing with the numbers, I put in double the household income and saw what the numbers would be if I was married...it's a HUGE tax cut under Obama's plan...even with no children. How is that fair? If I had a husband who made exactly the same as me, together, we'd stand to get nearly 10 times as much of a tax cut married than if we were single! That's just penalizing single people. What's worse, the tax break would be better for being married with no children than it would be to be single with a kid! I can understand tax breaks when you have dependent children you need to support off the same salary, but I don't understand them just for being lucky to meet someone to get married.

Evo
Mentor
I went to the other sites it referred to and they made no sense. They kept increasing my net income before taxes and there's a list of "assumptions" it says it's basing the figures on, none of which apply to me.

G01
Homework Helper
Gold Member
A single person with a grad student income of $25,000 (at best) will get$456.11 more than they would under John McCain.

Either way I'll still be poor, but that is a big difference.

Moonbear
Staff Emeritus
Gold Member
I went to the other sites it referred to and they made no sense. They kept increasing my net income before taxes and there's a list of "assumptions" it says it's basing the figures on, none of which apply to me.

I found that other site you're talking about. That one is terrible! It's assuming an automatically inflation-adjusted increase in income, as if everyone gets an automatic 3% increase every year, no more, no less. I think I know better than that site the duration of my contract and when I'm due for another raise.

Moonbear
Staff Emeritus
Gold Member
A single person with a grad student income of $25,000 (at best) will get$456.11 more than they would under John McCain.

Either way I'll still be poor, but that is a big difference.

At least until the Federal government has to cut education spending to cover the difference in tax income, and your tuition goes up again, and all the other things they cut in the budget are shifted to the state budgets, and state taxes go up.

Staff Emeritus
Gold Member
From the calculator page:

The Tax Policy Center, an independent, non-partisan group, has estimated how taxpayers' 2009 taxes will change under the next President. Answer a few simple questions to calculate the likely change in your tax bill in 2009:

The Tax Policy Center is a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution. The Center is made up of nationally recognized experts in tax, budget, and social policy who have served at the highest levels of government.

What We Do
TPC provides timely, accessible analysis and facts about tax policy to policymakers, journalists, citizens, and researchers. Its major products are

Model estimates: The TPC Microsimulation Model produces revenue and distribution estimates for the latest tax proposals and bills. More information about the tax model is available in the overview and FAQ.

Library: Research by TPC staff is disseminated in a variety of publications, including two TPC series - Issues and Options briefs and Discussion papers. The TPC also has regular columns in Tax Notes magazine.

Tax Facts: The Tax Facts database compiles facts and figures from government agencies and other sources.

Strange. This tax calculator shows a different amount...

http://taxcut.barackobama.com/ [Broken]

I wonder which one to trust?

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Evo
Mentor
Strange. This tax calculator shows a different amount...

http://taxcut.barackobama.com/ [Broken]

I wonder which one to trust?
I'm getting the same amount on this one.

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every four years the candidates running for president make all sorts of tax promises. When was the last time we saw the same tax breaks once they were elected?

I'm getting the same amount on this one.

The one I posted is showing more money from Obama and zero from McCain. The one Ivan posted at least showed McCains as ~5% of what Obamas is.

Staff Emeritus
Gold Member
I doubted the likelihood that it would be a reliable source (it sounded biased toward Obama), but lo and behold, it told me exactly what I suspected...not enough difference to care. It never matters who is in office, single, successful people always get screwed. Playing with the numbers, I put in double the household income and saw what the numbers would be if I was married...it's a HUGE tax cut under Obama's plan...even with no children. How is that fair? If I had a husband who made exactly the same as me, together, we'd stand to get nearly 10 times as much of a tax cut married than if we were single! That's just penalizing single people. What's worse, the tax break would be better for being married with no children than it would be to be single with a kid! I can understand tax breaks when you have dependent children you need to support off the same salary, but I don't understand them just for being lucky to meet someone to get married.

Ah, but anyone who is married will tell you that special compensation is entirely appropriate due to the demands that we endure, such as putting down the toilet seat.

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Borek
Mentor
I wonder which one to trust?

None.

I haven't looked at neither, I am not involved.

Could McCain have pulled off this unscripted, unprompted exposition of his tax policies? AND make the numbers add up? I think not.

O my god! Joe The Plumber strikes again!

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Staff Emeritus