These tax hikes would be so big, in fact, that top-bracket taxpayers might end up paying a rate of 67 percent on ordinary income and nearly 50 percent on capital gains.

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In this topsy-turvy environment, you might be better off turning the conventional year-end advice on its head if your bracket will be higher next year, says John Hewitt, chief executive of Liberty Tax Service, a national tax preparation firm based in Virginia Beach, Va.

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Mr Dell added that the new touchscreen products would cost more to produce than their non-touch equivalents, suggesting they should fall within the price bracket Dell targets, rather than the super-low end of the market that it had opted out of.

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Not just at the top end of the market but also in the middling price bracket.

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However, taxpayers who have income in the 10% or 15% bracket qualify for a 0% capital gains tax rate through the end of 2012.

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Using the data from 1913 through the end of 2011, the correlation between the maximum marginal income tax bracket and total Federal receipts is a negative 0.50.

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