Taxmageddon is getting ready to suffocate the U.S. economy under crushing tax increases on January 1, 2013. These tax hikes include the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax reductions and the tax increases from the 2010 health care law.
The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis (CDA) ran the numbers based on data from the IRS and found how much Taxmageddon will cost the average taxpayers in each state and congressional district.
The $494 billion in new tax increases is $4,138 more in taxes for the average family in 2013, but some places will pay more.
Here is how much the average tax return in the worst hit states will pay:
- Connecticut: $5,161
- Nevada: $4,609
- Delaware: $4,390
- New Jersey: $4,216
- Maryland: $4,071
- Massachusetts: $4,039
- New York: $3,773
- Virginia: $3,762
- Washington: $3,749
- Montana: $3,713
The CDA broke the numbers down further by congressional district. Here are the 25 hardest hit districts:
| Congressional District | Representative
in 2010 |
Party Affiliation | Average per Tax Return |
| NY-14 | Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney |
D |
$13,951 |
| CA-30 | Rep. Henry A. Waxman |
D |
$10,128 |
| CT-04 | Rep. James A. Himes |
D |
$10,092 |
| NY-08 | Rep. Jerrold Nadler |
D |
$9,511 |
| NY-18 | Rep. Nita M. Lowey |
D |
$8,715 |
| CA-14 | Rep. Anna G. Eshoo |
D |
$8,503 |
| IL-10 | Rep. Robert J. Dold |
R |
$7,605 |
| TX-07 | Rep. John Abney Culberson |
R |
$7,211 |
| CA-48 | Rep. John Campbell |
R |
$7,168 |
| FL-22 | Rep. Allen B. West |
R |
$7,087 |
| NJ-11 | Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen |
R |
$6,960 |
| FL-14 | Rep. Connie Mack |
R |
$6,631 |
| MD-08 | Rep. Chris Van Hollen |
D |
$6,521 |
| VA-10 | Rep. Frank R. Wolf |
R |
$6,433 |
| NJ-05 | Rep. Scott Garrett |
R |
$6,253 |
| NJ-07 | Rep. Leonard Lance |
R |
$6,090 |
| WA-08 | Rep. David G. Reichert |
R |
$6,036 |
| CA-08 | Rep. Nancy Pelosi |
D |
$6,000 |
| VA-08 | Rep. James P. Moran |
D |
$5,789 |
| NV-03 | Rep. Joseph J. Heck |
R |
$5,640 |
| NJ-12 | Rep. Rush D. Holt |
D |
$5,639 |
| IL-13 | Rep. Judy Biggert |
R |
$5,633 |
| CO-06 | Rep. Mike Coffman |
R |
$5,633 |
| CA-50 | Rep. Brian P. Bilbray |
R |
$5,578 |
| VA-11 | Rep. Gerald E. Connolly |
D |
$5,511 |
Economists generally agree: Tax increases in a bad economy do more harm than good. So why does President Obama continue to threaten the American people with higher taxes, which we know doesn’t work? If changes are to be made before 2013 to prevent Taxmageddon, they should have been made by now. The uncertainty is negatively effecting the economy already. The average family cannot afford to pay $4,138 more in taxes in 2013. Why does President Obama think they can?
America needs a predictable, rules-based fiscal policy as advocated by economist John Taylor. That means not changing how much Americans pay every year. Taxmageddon, and the uncertainty surrounding it, is the result of spinelessness in government that is a bad reflection on America’s leaders. It is time for Washington to permanently remove the annual crop of Taxmageddon question marks.