With leaders of Congress becoming more and more skeptical that a deal will be reached before midnight Monday to avoid the fiscal cliff, it becomes increasingly likely that American paychecks will get smaller Tuesday, according to a story in today’s New York Times.
“I have to be very honest,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in the New York Times article. “I don’t know time-wise how it can happen now.” The Senate reconvened today in an unusual session between Christmas and Jan. 1.
Even if the Senate passes legislation, the House of Representatives will not come back into session until Sunday barely 24 hours before the deadline, according to a story today on Politico.
If no deal is reached, a single person with two exemptions earning $50,000 per year will see income taxes increase from $7,103 to $8,551 per year, according to a fiscal cliff calculator published by Bankrate.com.
If you want to know the effect on your income, click here to get to Bankrate.com and the calculator to plug in the numbers specific to you.