Forget the Cliff, 3.8% Obamacare Tax Is Coming: What Advisors Are Telling Clients

Vanneman added that many money managers who typically reallocate assets in January will rebalance portfolios in December instead, and he predicted that there might be an over-reaction in the selling of dividend stocks. In fact, he said, dividend stocks have outperformed the market since Obama's re-election, and if there is a selloff, it could present a buying opportunity for savvy investors.

He pointed to a Nov. 7 Fidelity Viewpoint where Joanna Bewick, portfolio manager of Fidelity Strategic Funds, challenges the conventional wisdom suggesting that Obama's win could create headwinds for dividend-paying equities.

"First," Bewick writes, "about half of all assets that hold dividend-paying equities are already in tax-advantaged vehicles, so they're indifferent to tax policy. Second, historical data around dividend-paying stocks' performance when tax policies change is inconclusive: These assets have tended to outperform non-dividend-paying stocks, regardless of changes to dividend tax rates. This tells me that tax policy in a vacuum has only a slight influence over asset prices, compared with the overwhelming factors of the economic cycle and corporate profits."

Looking at Tax-Sheltered Alternatives

But Perry of Marcum LLP said that next year, his firm's clients could see higher capital gains tax rates to as much as 39.6%. Adding the 3.8% tax would bring that total to 43.4%, more than double what they're paying in taxes now.

"It's definitely going to be more burdensome for people who are counting on dividend income," Perry said. "High earners don't understand the impact. I have one client, a very high net worth individual with a lot of investment interest, who may owe $1.3 million more. So we're looking at tax-sheltered alternative investments such as municipal bonds, life insurance and tax-deferred annuities."

Investors might also want to consider selling stock positions, paying the 2012 capital gains tax, and then repurchasing the stock in 2013, Perry said. "If you have stock that has greatly appreciated, it might make sense to sell the stock now in 2012 before you're subject to the higher rate, and buy it back."

In other words, say an investor bought a stock at $5 and it's now at $50. On Dec. 28 of this year, the $45 profit would be subject to a 15% capital gains tax and no 3.8% surtax. Then on Jan. 2, the investor can buy the stock back at a cost basis of $50. So if the stock goes up to $60 and the investor decides to sell it, he or she is taxed on the difference between the cost basis and the gain, which is only $10.

Kent Kramer, wealth management partner with Schwab Impact award-winning RIA firm Foster Group of Des Moines, Iowa, is telling his clients that the capital gains tax might rise to 20% next year, and with the 3.8% added on top of the 20%, his clients are looking at a rate of 23.8%.

For a married couple with AGI of $250,000 who bought stock at $1,000 and sold it at $2,000, they would pay $238 in capital gains taxes in 2013 rather than $200 in 2012.

"We're in a period where we're telling our client to pay their capital gains now, at 15%, instead of what could go to 23.8% overnight," Kramer said. "If you have a stock you've been thinking about selling, maybe now is a good time to sell it."

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Read William Byrnes and Robert Bloink's Retirement Planning for the Next Four Years Under President Obama at AdvisorOne.