. >> reporter: attorney doug branley usually gets a tax refund each spring but he's not counting on one this year or in the future. >> as my tax burden increases, i'm paying more in taxes, i'm not getting tax refunds, and we are having to plan for that. >> reporter: top earners will take a big hit on earned and investment income. for couples with $450,000, increases in medicare surtax will result in a hit of nearly 42% on earned income in 2013, a more than 5% increase over last year. last taxes in dividends and long-term captain gains have surged to nearly 24% for top earners. facing a potential tax hit like this is forcing households like branley's to make some changes. >> we have already done as a family a lot of planning in anticipation of the fact my income will be lower next we're. >> reporter: big changes for portfolio planning may lie head to too. >> maybe buying some stocks for growth purposes that aren't paying dividends that maybe give you the same result in the end but have a little less tax implication. two, make sure that after you look at your nonqualified money you go to