New Tax Bill Passed!

The American Taxpayer Relief Act was passed in the first days of 2013 to avoid raising taxes on all taxpayers. The Act: (1) extends the 2012 income tax rates for persons earning less than $400,000, or $450,000 for joint filers; (2) for these same filers, the capital gains and dividends rate will increase from 15% to 20%, but stay at 15% for other taxpayers; (3) estate, gift and GST exemptions stay at $5 million (indexed for inflation) but the top rate is increased from 35% to 40%; (4) makes "permanent" the portability of a deceased spouse’s unused exemption to the surviving spouse; and (5) makes "permanent" the alternative minimum tax relief and indexes it for inflation.