CEPR logo

Fact-based, data-driven research and analysis to advance democratic debate on vital issues shaping people’s lives.

Center for Economic and Policy Research
1611 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009

Tel: 202-293-5380
Fax: 202-588-1356
https://cepr.net

Close

On This Page

Apparently they would be, if we listen to the people interviewed in an NYT piece about the impact of a surtax on incomes above $1 million proposed by President Obama. The NYT interviewed people who own small businesses that occasionally have earnings that would put them over this $1 million cutoff.

It would have been helpful if the article had reminded readers that the tax is a marginal tax so that if a business owner crosses the $1 million threshold they would only pay the tax on the income above the threshold. For businesses that just slip into this category, the additional tax burden would be trivial. It is implausible that it would have a noticeable effect on their business, even though business owners are not likely to be happy about paying the tax.