What's Your Tax IQ?

The recently enacted "Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010" is a sweeping tax package that includes, among many other items, an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for two years, estate tax relief, a two-year "patch" of the alternative minimum tax (AMT), a two-percentage-point cut in employee-paid payroll taxes and in self-employment tax for 2011, new incentives to invest in machinery and equipment, and a host of retroactively resuscitated and extended tax breaks for individuals and businesses.

Let’s test your knowledge of some of the key elements of the package.


1) The current individual income tax rates will be retained for two years (2011 and 2012), with a top rate of 15% on ordinary income.


2) Wage earners and self-employed workers will receive a reduction of four percentage points in Social Security tax in 2011.


3) Key tax credits for working families that were enacted or expanded in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will be retained.


4) Businesses can write off 50% of their new (1st use property) equipment and machinery purchases , effective for eligible property placed in service after September 8, 2010 and through December 31, 2011.


5) After a one-year hiatus, the estate tax will be reinstated for 2011 and 2012, with a top rate of 35%.



Let’s see how you did. Click to view your results.