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Tax Extenders Bill Passes HouseMay 22, 2008—The House of Representatives passed the tax extenders bill Wednesday, May 21 on a 263-160 vote. This margin is not large enough to override a veto from the President. Mr. Bush has threatened to veto the bill along with some Republicans who dislike how Democrats paid for the $55.5 billion tax bill. The bill contained both the deduction for out of pocket expenses for teachers and the enhanced deduction for donation of books from publisher inventories. Despite the veto threat, Chairman Rangel sees the legislation as important to ending foreign dependence on oil with a package of renewable and sustainable energy credits. In his floor comments the Chairman also stated the importance of tax relief to all Americans, “This legislation will also extend vital tax relief to American families and businesses whose tax bill would increase at the end of the year if we did not act. Tax relief provided in this bill include the research and development credit to help American businesses remain competitive, as well as deductions for State and local sales tax, real property tax for non-itemizers, tuition expenses, and out-of-pocket expenses for teachers. This bill would also expand the refundable child tax credit to help more than 13 million children and their families. Especially during tough economic times, there are millions of families who rely on these deductions for their economic security and this bill delivers the tax relief they deserve.” According to the National Journal, “The Republicans' major objection was that the bill would be fully offset, largely through a delay in new corporate tax rules to enable multinationals to claim bigger foreign tax credits. The other offset would tax hedge fund managers and others who work for multinational corporations who receive compensation in overseas tax havens.” Even with the veto threat and incomplete Senate action, House leaders believe that the bill will pass. "I'm fairly confident we'll have very little problems in the Senate getting this passed into law," said House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel. "The White House's attitude is to veto and complain; they've given up on leadership a long time ago." The Senate version is S2886, and the House version that passed is H3996. | ||||
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The Association of Educational Publishers | ||||
