Background on H.R. 8 – Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act
(Source: House Ways and Means Committee)
H.R. 8 provides a one-year extension of the low-tax policies originally enacted in 2001 and 2003 and then extended again in 2010.
Read the full bill text here.
This extension serves as the bridge to tax reform in 2013 and would do the following:
• Maintain existing tax rates and thus prevent a tax hike on January 1, 2013,
• Continue marriage penalty relief,
• Maintain the $1,000 child credit,
• Maintain a 15% top rate on dividends and capital gains,
• Maintain the estate tax at its 2011 and 2012 parameters (indexed for inflation),
• Provide higher Sec. 179 small business expensing limits,
• Preserve certain education-related benefits; and
• Provide a two-year AMT patch. (covering 2012 and 2013)
Background on H.R. 6169 – Pathway to Job Creation through a Simpler, Fairer, Tax Code Act of 2012
H.R. 6169 provides a pathway to comprehensive tax reforms in 2013. By implementing expedited procedures, this bill will enable lawmakers in both the House and Senate to overcome multiple technical hurdles that often cause bills to languish during the legislative process.
Read the full bill text here.
H.R. 6169 would protect taxpayers by creating a fairer and simpler tax code for individuals and families by doing the following:
• Lowering marginal tax rates and broadening the tax base,
• Eliminating special interest loopholes,
• Reducing complexity in the tax code,
• Repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT),
• Reducing the tax burdens imposed on married couples and families.
H.R. 6169 would make American workers and businesses more competitive by doing the following:
• Creating a stable, predictable tax code under which families and employers are best able to plan for the future,
• Keeping taxes on small businesses low,
• Reducing America’s corporate tax rate,
• Transiting to a globally competitive territorial tax system,
• Minimizing the double taxation of investment and capital.
Background on House Expedited Procedures:
• A “tax reform bill” must be introduced in the House of Representatives by the chair of the Committee on Ways and Means no later than April 30, 2013.
• The tax reform bill must be certified by the Joint Committee on Taxation and must include the following:
o A consolidation of the current 6 individual income tax brackets into not more than two brackets of 10 and not more than 25 percent,
o A reduction in the corporate tax rate to not greater than 25 percent,
o A repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax,
o A broadening of the tax base to maintain revenue between 18 and 19 percent of the economy,
o A change from a ‘worldwide’ to a ‘territorial’ system of taxation
• All relevant committees, including the House Ways and Means committee, will consider the legislation,
• The House will then consider the bill and vote on the final Tax Reform Bill.
• Upon passage in the House, the legislation will be sent to the Senate for consideration under expedited consideration rules.
