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Senate Passes Recovery Plan with Expanded Homebuyer’s Credit, Car Incentives, AMT Patch

New CCH Tax Briefing

(RIVERWOODS, ILL. February 10, 2009) – The Senate today passed its version of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 by a vote of 61 to 37, setting the stage for reconciliation of Senate and House versions of the bill and final passage, according to CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business and a leading provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services (CCHGroup.com). CCH has updated its Special Tax Briefing on the tax provisions of the legislation to highlight both common elements and differences between the Senate and House versions.

To read the updated Briefing, go to CCHGroup.com/Legislation/2009-Recovery-Act.pdf.

“The differences between the Senate and House versions will have to be ironed out, either by a conference committee or through negotiations between leaders of the two houses,” said Mark Luscombe, JD, LLM, CPA, CCH principal federal tax analyst. “Even relatively minor points, such as a month’s difference in effective dates, can make a big difference to taxpayers affected by a provision.”

New, above-the-line deductions for sales tax on new cars and one year’s interest on new car loans were added to the measure during Senate debate, along with a greatly expanded homebuyer’s credit, potentially available to anyone purchasing a home in 2009, not just the “first-time” homebuyers singled out in the original House version.

Other points of difference include:

• The phase-out range of the “Making Work Pay” Credit and inclusion of one-time payments of $300 to individuals on fixed incomes, mainly Social Security recipients and disabled veterans;
• An alternative minimum tax (AMT) “patch” for 2009;
• The percentage of the American Opportunity Credit that is refundable;
• The threshold for refundability of child credit;
• An exclusion of up to $2,400 in unemployment compensation for 2009;
• Tax-free distributions from 529 plans for computers and computer technology;
• The reduction of carryback amount for NOLs;
• The scope of refundable credits in lieu of bonus depreciation;
• Deferral of income from certain cancellations of indebtedness;
• The size of exclusion for Qualified Small Business Stock;
• An investment tax credit for broadband investments in rural, underserved areas in 2009 and 2010;
• Additional allocations for the New Markets Tax Credit;
• Parity of qualified transportation fringe benefits;
• Eligibility and scope for the Plug-In Electric Vehicle Credit;
• S Corp built-in gain period;
• Cap on executive compensation for TARP recipients;
• Scope of industrial development bonds; and
• Provisions relating to the Energy Investment Credit, Low Income Housing Credit, Qualified School Construction Bonds and withholding on government contractors.

CCH Tax Briefings

Timely, current analysis of this and other tax legislation can be found in CCH’s Special Tax Briefings on CCHGroup.com/Legislation.

About CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (CCHGroup.com) is a leading provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services. It has served tax, accounting and business professionals since 1913. Among its market-leading products are The ProSystem fx® Office, CCH® TeamMate, CorpSystem®, CCH® Tax Research NetWork™, Accounting Research Manager® and the U.S. Master Tax Guide®. CCH is based in Riverwoods, Ill.

Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services globally for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and regulatory sectors. Wolters Kluwer has annual revenues (2007) of €3.4 billion ($4.8 billion), maintains operations in over 33 countries across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific and employs approximately 19,500 people worldwide. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com.

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