By the Numbers: What $40 Means to You

December 20, 2011
06:20 PM EST

If the payroll tax cut expires, the typical American family that makes $50,000 a year will pay $1,000 more in taxes in 2012. That works out to about $40 less per paycheck that families won’t have to spend on groceries, gas, or medicine.

Nearly everyone in Washington—President Obama, Congressional Democrats, and both parties in the Senate—agrees that we must extend the payroll tax cut to avoid increasing taxes on 160 million Americans on January 1. Republicans in the House, however, are refusing to even vote on a bill to keep the payroll tax cut from expiring.

We asked people all over the country to tell us what a difference that $40 every two weeks makes for them and their families, and the answer is clear: American families struggling to make ends meet can’t afford to see their taxes go up.

Read the responses we’ve received so far here, or add your own story. Tell us what $40 means to you—what will you have to cut or go without if the payroll tax cut expires?