NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Republicans portray President Obama as the tax-hiker-in-chief.

Obama portrays himself as a tax cutter for the masses but not the rich.

The truth isn’t so cut and dry.

The fact is, the president’s record on taxes is a mixed bag. In three-plus years in office, Obama has raised some taxes even as he has cut others.

The end result: Both sides get their election-year talking points, and families and businesses get a maze of temporary or soon-to-expire tax laws mixed in with some new ones on tap.

Low- and middle-income households: The president wants to make the Bush tax cuts permanent for anyone making less than $200,000 ($250,000 for couples). In the meantime, as part of a deal with Congress in December 2010, he supported a two-year extension of them through the end of this year.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — President Obama this week defined what he believes should be the minimum “fair share” for millionaires and billionaires to pay in taxes. His answer: At least 30% of their income.

“If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30% in taxes,” Obama said during his State of the Union address.

The 30% marker is the first real detail Obama has offered since proposing the so-called Buffett Rule last September. That rule is a guideline intended to ensure that the very wealthy don’t pay a lower percentage of their income in taxes than anyone in the middle class.

It’s named, of course, after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has repeatedly asserted that he pays a lower percentage of his income to the IRS than his secretary.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The U.S. Treasury is giving up $14 billion in tax revenue because of a sweetheart deal it’s giving General Motors.

The automaker is expected to post its first profitable year since 2004 when it reports fourth-quarter results on Thursday. But GM (GM) won’t have to worry about being hit with a big tax bill because billions in previous losses will provide shelter for years to come.

(CNN) — Nearly three-quarters of Americans say that the government wastes their tax dollars, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Thursday also indicates that roughly half the public believes the tax system is unfair, and as a result, four in 10 say they’re angry about the amount of taxes that they pay.

WASHINGTON – Just ahead of Tax Day, President Barack Obama is urging Americans to take advantage of tax credits for first-time homebuyers, college students and others.

Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to promote some of the tax benefits in last year’s stimulus bill, saying they could save people hundreds or even thousands of dollars and were available to more than 100 million Americans. Even those who file before the April 15 deadline can amend their returns if there are savings they missed, Obama noted.

WASHINGTON – So much for privatizing the federal government.

The Internal Revenue Service’s decision this week to quit using debt collectors to dun delinquent taxpayers was celebrated by public employee unions as a pendulum shift after watching the Bush administration often opt for private contractors over federal workers to deliver government services.

The IRS program was a small one, bringing in a little more than $80 million since its inception in 2006. But it represented an ideological toehold for conservatives who believe that private companies are more efficient than government agencies.