Washington (June 21, 2004) - The House passed by a wide margin this week a bill that would repeal the export tax incentive regime deemed illegal by World Trade Organization.
The bill, H.R. 4520, known as the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, passed in a 251-178 vote late last week. Differences with the Senate version of the bill, passed last month, must now be cleared before a conference version can be approved for signature by President Bush.
“The Joint Committee will have to deal with some difficult issues,” said CPA Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney with RIA, a Thomson business. “The repeal provisions and international provisions in both bills are similar. However, it’s going to be a tough conference because of the different add-ons to the two bills.”
The legislation would satisfy the European Union and the WTO simply by its repeal of the current export provisions, noted Ann Arbor, Mich.-based international tax attorney Martin B. Tittle. “Nothing is necessary to replace ETI,” he said. "Just repeal it and the government has $4 billion extra to spend. What complicates matters is that everyone wants a piece of the money that will be saved.”
-- Roger Russell
