The decision about the Fiscal Cliff is coming down to the wire in Washington.
But whether taxpayers will be sent over this looming cliff is yet to be seen.
Financial Planner Bryan Kelly says if changes to the tax laws aren't made or adjusted... The economic impact will be drastic, and immediate.
"The issues that are being faced by the middle class, by the average American, as a worker or an employer, things are going to be different."
As the economic landscape changes, small business owners and investors will have generate more revenue just to break even.
"There's gonna be increased healthcare costs for the local business owners. There's gonna be increased taxes on investors. So in order to just keep the status quo you're gonna have to raise revenue and increase profitability."
As members of Washington admit they're at a standstill, the clock keeps ticking.
But in this case no decision means taxpayers head straight over the Cliff.
"If these tax changes aren't affected, a new decision isn't made, then we're gonna basically wipe out any growth for 2013 because any growth is basically just going to pay the taxes. "
Lu Chamberlain-Rymer, Business Development Mananger, says these proposed taxes aren't actually new, but a reversion to the taxes of the nineteen ninetees.
"They were making a good amount. And now we've gotten to the point where the growth is not there, so the taxes are still required," she says.
But Chamberlain-Rymer says that will pose challenges to the middle class.
"As a middle class investor, you're gonna have to make more money. As a business owner, you're going to have to find new ways to generate higher revenue," she says.
And those increases would effect everything from payroll taxes to capital gains.
The decision deadline is December 15.
In Chattanooga, Brittany Shaw, WDEF News 12.
