The 2013 Tax Law Schizophrenic Definition of Income - Part 1 of 2

QUOTED AND LINKED IN JANUARY 11, 2013 WALL STREET JOURNAL
And you thought that the tax law was already too complex. As a result of President Obama's signing on January 2nd of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 following changes legislated by the 2010 Health Care Reform Act effective beginning in 2013, there are now five different definitions of income affecting seven different tax areas. With a schizophrenic name ("Taxpayer Relief Act"), this comes as no surprise.

Although the most publicized affected income level is individuals with taxable income exceeding $400,000 for single tax filers and $450,000 for married filing joint tax filers, everyone with employment or self-employment income of any amount with limited exceptions will pay more tax in 2013 than they did in 2012, all else being equal.