The aim of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is to cover more people in the health insurance, at the same time, 46 new responsibilities was assigned to IRS to enforce the new health law. The expansion of federal taxes affects us all.
At first, the expansion imposes more burdens on taxpayers and IRS officials. Before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act enforced, individuals and businesses have spend 6.1 billion hours approximately on filing tax return per year. The data is staggering, it equals to the workload of more than 3 million workers. What’s more, the Obamacare is an act that is 1000 pages long and 21 new federal taxes are added due to the new act. The workload of IRS officials increases. Taxpayers have to pay more on filing tax return every year because of the more complex tax code. The complexity of the law is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently.
In addition, the expansion increases the cost of small business. Owners of small businesses will pay more tax fee on self-employment income and the employer mandate makes them pay more on low-income workers. The survival of small businesses faces a huge challenge.
As for the government, this expansion makes tax revenue rise. The 21 new added taxes results in $1.058 trillion more tax revenue earned. However，tax increases primarily affect high earners, large businesses, and the health care industry. In a way, the gap between the rich and the poor will be narrowed. One more thing, the federal government does not impose any requirements on which health insurance to buy. Americans have the right to choose which qualified health insurance to buy and the qualified insurance can avoid the tax “penalty”.
In my opinion, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act imposes a “tax”. Firstly, the act treats different populations, such as individuals, employers, small or large businesses as