Pew outlines cost projections for extending Bush tax cuts

The organization predicts that extending all of the Bush tax cuts would cost $3.3 trillion over 10 years. This figure includes interest payment on the debt. 

Under a full extension, the deficit would be 4.1 percent of GDP in 2014 and by the end of the decade would reach 5 percent. Public debt would reach 83.5 percent of GDP by 2020. 

If Congress extends all of the tax cuts for just two years, the cost would be $561 billion over the next decade, which includes interest. The deficit would be 2.6 percent of GDP in 2014 and would rise to 3.1 percent by 2020. Public debt would be more than 71 percent of GDP by the end of the decade. 

Extending only the middle-class tax cuts — those benefiting individuals making less than $200,000 per year and couples earning less than $250,000 — would cost $2.2 trillion over the next decade, including interest. It would also result in deficits being 3.6 percent of GDP in 2014 and 4.3 percent in 2020. Public debt would be 79 percent of GDP in 2020.

Under a two-year extension of middle-class tax cuts, the cost would be $387 billion, including interest. The deficit would be 2.5 percent of GDP in 2014, and 3.0 percent by the end of the decade. And public debt would reach 71.1 percent of GDP by 2020. 

The Senate is expected to take up the issue of extending the Bush tax cuts shortly after returning from its August recess.