Senate Finance Committee Introduces Tax Extension Package
More than 50 tax breaks have been extended for two years thanks to a bill that got 23 to 3 votes at the Senate Finance Committee meeting.
Representative Orrin Hatch, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Ron Wyden, its ranking member, said:
Today the Finance Committee advanced a bipartisan bill aimed to help both families and businesses. By allowing committee members to work their will, the committee succeeded in passing a number of widely supported tax provisions that will provide some certainty in the tax code for the next two years. We look forward to continuing to work together in a bipartisan fashion to enact tax extenders legislation.
The bill will lead to the extension of several tax breaks that had expired at the close of 2014. The Congress had extended tax breaks for two more weeks last December. The tax extension package comes with provisions that will be of benefit to individuals, families, and small businesses. Some of these provisions include $250 over-the-mark deduction in taxes for school professionals, including teachers, for expenses related to mortgage debt relief, books, parity for mass parking and transit benefits provided by employers, along with deduction for mortgage insurance premiums, general sales taxes, and higher education expenses, tax credit for research and development, and so on.
Hatch said that these provisions serve as incentives for the promotion of some activities. Since they do not do much good on expiry, there was a need to extend the package at the earliest possible.
Talking about the beneficial provisions, he said:
While some tend to write off tax extenders as special interest giveaways, in terms of dollars, the bulk of the extenders in this package go toward very popular, widely applicable provisions.
He further stated that 51% of the funds related to the bill will finance provisions such as
small business expensing, research and development tax credit, bonus depreciation, state and local sales tax deduction, and active financing income.
The package also extends tax breaks related to energy-related projects, such as ethanol, biodiesel, and win energy.
The American Institute of CPAs has expressed its appreciation of this package. In a recent statement, AICPA Taxation VP Edward Karl said that the association has been urging the Congress to provide similar packages for the past several years. He said:
A successful conclusion to this year’s earlier start would help millions of Americans plan for and more accurately calculate their 2015 tax bill.
