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Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tax Legislation Update
 When Congress is not figuring out the best way to give Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's golfing buddies $700 billion, their attention is focused on tax legislation. Specifically, the House and the Senate are working on coming to agreement on several tax code areas: a patch for the AMT, (renewable) energy tax extenders, non-energy tax extenders, and tax relief for disaster victims. The two chambers are at odds over several issues, but the biggest is if these tax cuts should be paid for. Here's the lay of the land as of Thursday morning:
AMT Patch
- Senate: On Tuesday, passed 93-2, a $120 billion tax package (HR 6049) includes a $61.8 billion non-offset AMT patch
- House: Approved Wednesday (393-30) a standalone bill (HR 7005) that would patch the AMT without offsets
Non-Energy Extenders
- Senate: Also passed in the bill passed Tuesday, offset by $25 billion in revenue raisers, a $59 billion package of non-energy related tax cuts
- House: Will offer a fully offset package today, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Tax Act of 2008
Disaster Relief
- Senate: Included in HR 6049 (passed Tuesday), almost $9 billion for victims of the Midwestern flooding and of Hurricane Ike
- House: Passed Wednesday, by 419-4, HR 7006 that would provide about $9 billion in tax relief for victims all federally-declared disasters
Posted by Craig Jennings
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