As congress and the president debate  changes in the current law, one of the most  devastating will be a change to the dividend tax rate. The reason for this is that many current retirees and  those on limited income are paying no tax on dividends. Any changes in the current tax law may increase the rate from 0 to 39.6%.  This will be an unwelcome surprise to all of our clients that use our New Jersey Tax Services in 2013.