So the presidential election is down to two candidates. The question is, where do Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain stand on issues of importance to CPAs and their clients?

Let’s start with taxes. In “Your Tax Bill: How McCain and Obama Differ,” The Wall Street Journal’s Tom Herman outlines the candidates’ stances on issues like income taxes, investment income and estate taxes.

No matter who wins, Herman says capital gains taxes are almost guaranteed to rise.

“So should you be rushing to sell your investment winners now to take advantage of today’s historically low tax rates?” Herman asks. “While some investors say they are considering it, very few say they are doing anything different right now. Election Day still is more than four months away, an eternity in American politics — and even if lawmakers do enact higher taxes next year, nobody knows how much higher they will be or what the effective dates will be.”

Who’s your choice for president? Why?

And by the way, thanks to Trinity University’s Robert Jensen for passing along the link to Herman’s article via the CPAs-L listserv.