re: Well I just noticed on my online banking / payroll tax increase

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Income Tax Relief
The 2012 federal income tax rates have been extended permanently for singles with annual income below $400,000 and married couples with less than $450,000 of income. For taxpayers above those thresholds, the maximum tax rate is rising from 35 to 39.6%.

The tax treatment of investments also will be split at those same levels. Americans with income below those marks will continue to pay taxes on capital gains and qualified dividends at a maximum 15% rate. Higher-income Americans will face a higher 20% tax rate on capital gains and dividends. And, when factoring in a new 3.8% health care tax on investment income, the top rate actually rises to 23.8%.

Limits on Personal Exemptions and Deductions
In 2013, single taxpayers with income above $250,000, and married taxpayers with joint income above $300,000, will see their ability to claim personal exemptions and itemized deductions either reduced or eliminated, depending on how high their income is. Personal exemptions reduce taxable income and are expected to be valued at $3,900 per person in 2013. That value will shrink or disappear for taxpayers with income above the new limits.

Lasting Patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax
The Alternative Minimum Tax was created to prevent the wealthiest Americans from using maneuvers to avoid paying taxes. However, since it wasn't designed to reflect inflation, Congress has had to create a series of "patches" to prevent it from hitting the middle class. The deal replaced those periodic patches with a long-term fix that also reaches back to cover 2012.

Estate Tax Adjustment
In 2012, only those estates worth more than $5.12 million were subject to federal estate taxes, at a maximum rate of 35%. In 2013, the exemption will remain at that amount, but the maximum tax rate is climbing to 40%. The new law also makes permanent the ability of spouses to use any amount of the tax exemption that wasn't used by their deceased spouse — giving married couples the power to shelter more than $10 million in combined assets.

End of the Payroll Tax Holiday
While the new law generally guards most Americans from a 2013 tax increase, there's an exception: The two-year discount on payroll taxes has ended. This means your Social Security tax rate will jump from 4.2 to 6.2%. If you're self-employed, the rate goes from 10.4 to 12.4%.

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