A Look At the Fiscal Clff Bill Passed by The Senate

It was called the American Taxpayer Relief Act-- a 157 page amendment to a house revenue bill that will make eve the most conservative House Republican wish that Boehner had passed Plan B. it was offered as and passed as an Amendment to meet the constitutional requirement that spending bills start in the house. 

Technically we went over the cliff at midnight but the Senate voted 89-8 in favor of the package, which was hastily pulled together after a late-night deal between White House and Senate Republican negotiators and now its up to the house.

The full bill is embedded below but below is a summary of the  tax and spend plan:

• Income tax rates: Extends decade-old tax cuts on incomes up to $400,000 for individuals, $450,000 for couples.

• Estate tax: Estates would be taxed at a top rate of 40 percent, with the first $5 million in value exempted for individual estates and $10 million for family estates.

• Capital gains, dividends: Taxes on capital gains and dividend income exceeding $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for families would increase from 15 percent to 20 percent.

• Alternative minimum tax: Permanently addresses the alternative minimum tax and indexes it for inflation to prevent nearly 30 million middle- and upper-middle income taxpayers from being hit with higher tax bills averaging almost $3,000. .

• Other tax changes: Extends for five years Obama-sought expansions of the child tax credit, earned income tax credit, and an up to $2,500 tax credit for college tuition. Also extends for one year accelerated "bonus" depreciation of business investments in new property and equipment, a tax credit for research and development costs and a tax credit for renewable energy such as wind-generated electricity.

• Unemployment benefits: Extends jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed for one year.

• Cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors: Blocks a 27 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors for one year.

• Social Security payroll tax cut: Allows a 2 percentage point cut in the payroll tax first enacted two years ago to lapse, which restores the payroll tax to 6.2 percent.

• Across-the-board cuts: Delays for two months $109 billion worth of across-the-board spending cuts set to start striking the Pentagon and domestic agencies this week.

So far it is not known whether  the house will amend it, pass it with mostly Democratic votes, or  refuse to bring it to the floor. While we are waiting to find out feel free to read the entire bill which is embedded below






American Taxpayer Relief Act