The top tax rate, estate taxes and capital-gains rates are points of contention. Plans also disagree on spending cuts and the debt limit.
Just who and what will fall by the Dec. 31 deadline? We'll likely keep hanging on by our fingernails until Congress makes some difficult decisions about tax policy.
More tax code fairness is good, but it won't solve all the problems of the US economy. The reality is that everyone needs to pay higher taxes, plus undergo an attitude shift.
An analysis of the president's budget proposal finds that his plan would raises taxes for about one-third of households and cut taxes for about one in six.
However President Obama's proposed tax on millionaires is estimated, it's small compared with the federal budget deficit.
States are competing to provide the best tax environment for retirees. But that generosity could cost all the taxpayers later.
Neither the Obama nor the Romney tax plan faces up to reality. Tax cuts with expiration dates are papering over the budget holes.
A number of major tax breaks expire at the end of the year. With an election looming, it's hard to know whether any will be extended.
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