It's Official: The "Middle-Class Tax Cuts" Have Been Inked In

With a few pen strokes, President Obama has signed the $858 billion tax bill. Most of the bills provisions will take effect for the next two years, while some are set to expire at the end of 2011. Will it further stimulate the economy? Only time will tell.

Here's a video from today's signing:

Bush...errrr....Obama Tax Cuts: Whats New and How Will They Affect You?

While you will be hard-pressed to find anyone who agrees entirely with the extension and additions to the Bush-Era Tax Cuts (or Middle Class Tax Cuts as the White House has been calling them), it looks like we finally have some certainty moving into 2011. Will we see a decrease in unemployment and significant economic growth as a result of the cuts? That is to be determined.

President Obama held a press conference yesterday to address the extension of the tax cuts:

Where Do We Currently Stand with the AMT Patch? Bush Tax Cuts?

Taxpayers are getting nervous. The IRS is getting nervous. Lawmakers are...working on it. With so many questions still lingering regarding the fate of AMT and the Bush tax cuts following the midterm elections, uncertainty is clouding  many taxpayers' year-end tax planning efforts.

So where do we currently stand with AMT? This article from The Hill sheds some light on the widely expected patch that will yet again surface. And what about the Bush Tax Cuts? Forbes has provided some potential outcomes along with their likelihood in this recent article.

In the end, it is hard to believe that any significant changes will take place between now and December 31st. Rather, we will likely see a year-end scramble to preserve  the status quo and table discussions about their future until 2011, when a similar chain of events will likely repeat itself.