It's been almost a month since people across the globe celebrated the start of the new year. While we anxiously counted down the seconds until 2013, Americans were also counting down to a wave of new or higher taxes thanks to the Affordable Care Act and the "Fiscal Cliff" debacle at the end of last year.

Last summer I wrote about the five taxes hidden within the health care bill: a medical device tax, surtax on investment income, a Medicare tax, a Flexible Spending Account tax, and tightened itemized medical deductions for both individuals and corporations.

These taxes directly hit job creators and Americans of all income levels. However, courtesy of our elected officials, these five taxes and a "surprise" fee for companies are not the only new expenses of 2013. Last year's "Fiscal Cliff" train wreck negotiations brought forth seven other taxes that either began or were raised at the start of the year:

• The Estate Tax, more commonly known as the "Death Tax," on estates larger than $5 million rose 5% to 40%
• Phase out of personal exemptions for adjusted gross income over $300,000
• "Phase down of itemized deductions for adjusted gross income over $300,000"
• 5% increase on tax rates on investment for those making over $450,000
• Expiration of full expensing--the immediate deduction of capital purchases by businesses 
• Income tax rose from 35% to 39.6% for those making over $450,000
• Payroll tax increase from 4.2% to 6.2% for anyone in the United States with a paycheck.