Politics

Tax Extenders Act Passes House

By Karina

This afternoon, the House passed the Tax Extenders Act of 2009 by a vote of 241-181. The bill will help create jobs and cuts taxes for middle-class families:

Strengthens job creation by American businesses here at home and U.S. competitiveness by extending the R&D tax credit for nearly 11,000 corporations and the special rules for active financing income

Approximately 70% or more of the benefits of the R&D tax credit are attributable to salaries of workers performing U.S. based research and the credit stimulates American made innovation in all 50 states

Provides up to 30 million homeowners with property tax relief

Benefits 12 million families through the State and local sales tax deduction

Helps 4.5 million families better afford college with the tuition deduction

Saves 3.4 million teachers money with a deduction for classroom expenses

Takes steps to make sure that activated military reservists do not suffer a pay cut by providing a tax credit for small businesses that continue to pay their National Guard and Reserve employees when they are called up to serve

More than 550,000 Reserve and National Guard members that have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since September 2001 and 55 percent of married Guard members and reservists suffer a loss of income when being called to active duty

Helps businesses and individuals to invest in and succeed in certain economically depressed areas with the extension of tax incentives for Empowerment Zones and Renewal Communities, as well as the new markets tax credit

Provides substantial assistance for the real estate sector, by (1) providing more than $5 billion to encourage improvements to retail stores, construction of restaurants and making certain other improvements to real property; and (2) extending the low-income housing tax credit exchange program which has invested more than $3.7 billion in the construction of more than 49,000 low-income housing units; and (3) providing nearly $3 billion to encourage economic development in economically distressed communities.

Strengthens American-made energy with tax incentives for the production of biodiesel and renewable diesel

Learn more about the bill»

Speaker Pelosi on passage:

Today, Congress took another positive step forward in our drive to create more jobs, strengthen our economy, and lay the foundation for long-term prosperity. By passing the Tax Extenders Act, we are placing our working families at the center of our economic recovery.

This legislation is good for businesses, good for homeowners, and good for our communities. The bill extends research and development tax credits for American companies, encouraging them to invest in innovation and clean energy, and create the high-tech jobs of the 21st century. It provides property tax relief to 30 million families, ensures our men and women called to serve overseas do not face a pay cut here at home, and offers some security for millions of parents, teachers, and consumers by extending deductions for college tuition, classroom expenses, and state and local sales taxes.

Maintaining our commitment to fiscal discipline, this legislation will not add to the deficit. The costs of this proposal are fully paid for because we put an end to the preferential tax treatment for hedge fund managers and investment bankers and crack down on offshore tax havens.

This bill is a down payment on new jobs, growth, innovation, and opportunity for every American.

Full post as published by The Gavel on December 09, 2009 (boomark / email).