With 2013 rapidly approaching, there has been growing talk of the impending “fiscal cliff.” This refers to the combination of the tax increases and spending cuts that are currently written into law for the start of 2013. According to the Urban Institute and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, the fiscal tax increase would amount to approximately $536 billion, or about $3,500 per household. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that real GDP would contract by 0.9 percent in the first half of 2013 as a result of the fiscal cliff.
