Guide To Tables: Fiscal Cliff Analysis

The United States is fast approaching what many observers call the “fiscal cliff.” If the president and Congress do not act, taxes would jump for most Americans and government spending would drop sharply. Those changes would reduce the federal deficit significantly in 2013 and subsequent years, slowing America's build-up of debt and reducing debt as a share of GDP. But according to the Congressional Budget Office, the resulting macroeconomic tightening could well push the country back into recession in 2013. Lawmakers could soften that near-term hit by delaying or repealing provisions in the "cliff" or by enacting other spending and tax policies that would provide offsetting support for the economy.

To provide context for these policy discussions, the Tax Policy Center has released a report that provides a detailed look at the pending tax increases and documents their potential effects on federal revenue, the distribution of the tax burden, and economic incentives.

The full report is available here.

The following is a guide to the report's accompanying tables.