Bank Savings Could Plunge with Higher Taxes: Report

The money a household has to deposit into a bank account would decrease by an average of almost 55% if U.S. tax cuts are allowed to expire, an analysis from Market Rates Insight found.

The amount would decrease to $2,182 from $4,782, a decline of $2,600, Market Rates Insight said Monday. That is the amount of added annual federal tax an average household would have to pay, according to estimates from the Tax Policy Center, Market Rates Insight said.

Prior tax cuts could expire in January if Democrats and Republicans are not able to reach a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit.

"If the tax cuts will not be extended into next year consumers will have nearly half the amount available for savings as they did in the past decade," Dan Geller, executive vice president at Market Rates Insight, said in a news release.

Consumer savings in bank accounts, excluding business and institutional accounts, increased to $8.2 trillion this month from $3.8 trillion in December 2001. When divided by 82.8 million U.S. households with banking relationships, the average annual bank savings per household per year amounted to $4,782, Market Rates Insight said.

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