Watercooler: Breading down candidates' tax proposals

Tax policy proposals go hand-in-hand with presidential politics. But during the current election season, the debate over changing the current federal tax system has reached a fever pitch.

Claims and proposals by presidential candidates on how best to change and reform current tax law have been flying fast and furious, leaving little time for the average voter to distill each party's plan.

A few websites, though, have taken a look at the respective tax proposals. If you want to get a clearer picture of where the candidates stand on taxes, these sites might be a good place to start:

Bankrate.com • Breaks down Obama and Romney tax proposals for income, capital gains, estate tax and more, at http://bit.ly/MZOxNN.

CCH Group • CCH, a company that provides accounting software and services, offers a special report (in pdf form) that goes through each candidate's plan for a variety of taxes, at http://bit.ly/Q32hUh.

SmartMoney • Spotlights Obama and Romney plans for a variety of taxes, from income tax to the alternative minimum tax and estate tax, at http://sm.wsj.com/Qkmmrt.

Tax Policy Center • A joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution think tanks, the Tax Policy Center provides tables and rates that compare the current tax policy with proposals by Obama and Romney, plus further candidate tax resources, at http://bit.ly/QyKPWt.