The House of Representatives has already passed three tax cuts and had the details of a fourth nearly pinned down, cutting taxes by $94.5 billion over the next five years.
The trio of approved bills are targeted at reconstruction of the Gulf Coast ($7.1 billion), U.S. troops serving in Iraq ($153 million) and an estimated 17 million taxpayers who were on the verge of having to pay the alternative minimum tax ($31.2 billion). The Senate has already passed similar measures.
Next up for the House will be a $56-billion tax-cut bill, the bulk of which would extend the 2003 cuts on the tax rates for dividends and capital gains for the next five years.The Gulf Coast aid would create a so-called Gulf Opportunity Zone. Businesses could write off the cost of new buildings and equipment, and Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama would be granted tax-exempt bond authority for their own rebuilding. After some debate, the measure was approved with the exemption of casinos, country clubs, hot tub facilities, liquor stores, massage parlors, golf courses, racetracks and tanning salons from the tax breaks.
