Washington -- By an overwhelming 333-89 margin, House lawmakers passed a bill that indexes the controversial Alternative Minimum Tax for inflation for a one-year period, rather than allowing the AMT to revert to its 2002 levels if left to expire.
The bill, H.R. 4227, raises the 2005 AMT limits to $58,950 for married couples filing jointly and to $40,900 for individual filers, versus the 2003-2004 levels of $58,000 and $40,250, respectively.
According to published reports, The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated the bill would cost $17.8 billion over a ten-year period.
The Democrats had offered an alternative bill that was defeated by roughly 30 votes.
The GOP said that the year-long extension was needed in an effort to compile a long-term fix.
