It's been a while since I've commented anywhere about bogus claims made in emails. I used to have a blog called "Stupid Email Forwards" to discredit such stuff, but it wasn't worth it. Like oil in the gulf, lies and misinformation gush out too fast to be stanched by one person's efforts.
These days, however, I'm writing articles about health reform for a national association, so when I came across the following message I couldn't help but do a little investigating. Here's what the incoming "friend of a friend" email says:
"I just got this from a friend and am passing it on to you for your information. This is supposed to be part of the new Health Care Bill that will be starting next year. I thought Obama was just going to raise taxes on people making 250,000 or more? Well this isn't a tax increase but when you take away, Tax Exemption, it will sure feel like a tax increase....
"You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen. ... Not believing this I researched the summaries and here's what I read:
"Sec.9002 'requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employee's gross income.'
"Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters. Go to Kiplingers and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what I just told you about. Why am I sending you this? The same reason I hope you forward this to every single person in your address book. People have the right to know the truth because an election is coming in November. Here's some of the CHANGE for you."
This, of course, is BS. I have the health reform law in front of me, and all section 9002 does is require information about so-called "cadillac health plans" to be included on W-2 forms. W-2s are information forms. Just because something is reported there doesn't make it taxable. Any tax that is owed will be paid by the employer, not the employee. (See section 9001.)
Joan Pryde at Kiplinger knows this, of course. As recommended, I went to her article and "Number 3" reads: "A requirement that businesses include the value of the health care benefits they provide to employees on W-2s, beginning with W-2s for 2011. The amount reported is not considered taxable income." (Emphasis mine.) So much for people having the right to know the truth.
Finally, "Friend of a Friend" conveniently omits the lead paragraph of Ms. Pryde's article, which I quote:
"The new health care reform law is chock-full of new taxes and tax increases that will affect many individuals and businesses, but it will be years before most of these hikes take a bite out of your -- or your company’s -- wallet. The law also has tax breaks to help both individuals and small businesses pay for insurance."
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