Some Earth Day…Obama Energy Plan Brings $10,000 per Year in Higher Energy Taxes for Every Family

ATR Projects Tax Burden per American Family Based on Obama’s Budget Numbers

WASHINGTON, April 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – Today, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) announced that based on their calculations of President Obama’s FY 2010 budget, the energy provisions combined could result in a possible $10,000 tax per year on every American family once fully phased in.

Tax and energy analysts at Americans for Tax Reform have calculated the true size of the Pelosi-Obama-Reid energy tax hike on families. By adding together the tax increase costs of the carbon tax, Sec. 199 repeal, and other energy tax hikes in the Obama budget and dividing by the number of families, it’s clear what this annual tax hike would be. The average American family would pay, directly or indirectly, approximately $10,000 per year in new energy taxes.

“When President Obama told the American people that he wasn’t going to raise taxes on over 90 percent of the population – he lied. Everyone flips on the light switch; not just rich people,” says Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “If the President wants to eliminate an income tax cut for companies that create jobs here in America and call it a ‘loop-hole closer’ instead of a direct increase in income taxes that will be passed onto every American family and consumer – then he is insulting all of our intelligence.”

Norquist is referring to the elimination of Internal Revenue Code Section 199, which is a domestic manufacturer’s tax deduction that all companies receive for engaging in production within the U.S. However, the current Administration wishes to remove this – but only for energy companies.

“To tell the American taxpayers that he doesn’t want to raise their taxes is similar to convincing a math professor two plus two equals seven – it just doesn’t make sense!” says Norquist.

Using the Manhattan Institute of Technology’s (MIT) estimate from the same “cap and trade” legislation in the 110th Congress, ATR analysts note that this impact alone will result in over $3,000 in new taxes on each family. The additional $7,000, according to ATR, comes from adding the other tax-cut repeals, direct tax increases and revenue generators from energy provisions directly in the President’s budget. Visit www.atr.org for more information.

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all federal, state and local tax increases. For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact John Kartch at (202) 785-0266 or at jkartch@atr.org.

SOURCE Americans for Tax Reform