Budget & Taxes

Last year I voted for H.R. 3996, the Temporary Tax Relief Act.  This bill, which has since become law; will provide millions of middle-class families with tax cuts to grow our economy without increasing the national debt.  It will provide $50 billion in tax relief to 23 million families and expands the child tax credit to help 12 million children.  H.R. 3996 will prevent middle income Americans from being affected by a scheduled tax increase under the so-called Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).  The AMT was enacted in 1968 to prevent the very wealthy from using deductions, credits and other shelters to avoid paying taxes. But because the income thresholds used under the AMT were never adjusted for inflation, the number of families affected by the law has increased dramatically.

Passage of H.R. 3996 will ensure that middle income Americans are not subject to excessive income taxes under the AMT.  Had Congress not approved H.R. 3996, 81 percent of taxpayers with taxable incomes of $100,000 to $200,000 would have been affected by the AMT, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, as would nearly half of taxpayers who earn $75,000 to $100,000. With the enactment of H.R. 3996, however, only 10 percent of those who make $100,000 to $200,000 and fewer than 2 percent of taxpayers who earn $75,000 to $100,000 will have to pay the AMT.