BENEFITS SAVINGS
Under current law, employer contributions to the cost of health insurance are not counted as taxable income for employees. Workers do not pay income or payroll taxes on the benefits. A look at the average savings per tax return, given adjusted gross income (AGI).

AGI AVERAGE

SAVINGS PER

TAX RETURN

$10,000 $625

$10,000-29,999 $2,008

$30,000-49,999 $2,502

$50,000-74,999 $3,106

$75,000-99,999 $3,972

$100,000-199,999 $4,504

$200,000-499,999 $4,634

$500,000+ $4,385

Source: Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for an overhaul of the health care system.

The proposal is politically problematic for President Barack Obama, however, since it is similar to one he denounced in the presidential campaign as “the largest middle-class tax increase in history.” Most Americans with insurance get it from their employers, and taxing workers for the benefit is strongly opposed by union leaders and some businesses.

In millions of dollars worth of television advertisements last fall, Obama criticized his Republican rival for the presidency, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, for proposing to tax all employer-provided health benefits. The benefits have long been tax-free, regardless of how generous they are or how much an employee earns. The ads did not note that McCain, in exchange, wanted to give all families a tax credit to subsidize the purchase of coverage.

Won’t oppose Congress
Now that Obama has begun the health debate, several advisers say that while he will not propose changing the tax-free status of employee health benefits, neither will he oppose it if Congress does so.

When Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., advocated taxing benefits at a recent hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, which he heads, Timothy Geithner, Obama’s secretary of the Treasury, assured him that the administration was open to all ideas from Congress.

The administration’s receptivity to the idea is partly due to the advocacy of Baucus, whose committee has jurisdiction over tax policy and health programs, and to support from Republicans. There is less enthusiasm among Democrats in the House.

The Congressional Budget Office says that including health benefits in taxable income could mean $246 billion in additional revenues for a single year.

To read the complete article, go to : http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/6311649.html

Personal Observation: Where does Obama and the "Tax and Spend" Democrats leave the Haynesville Shalers that spoke of, and dreamed, of having a bill passed where Signing Bonuses would be taxed at only a 10% rate? No political party of any persuation, can resist digging into and taking all they can from a new pile of money.

Looks like Obama and his "Hope" and "Change" is heading in a direction most people do not want to go.