The House has voted to approve a $78 billion bill that would provide a temporary fix to prevent the alternative minimum tax from spreading to about 23 million more taxpayers this coming tax season.Congress was under pressure to pass an AMT fix in time to allow the Internal Revenue Service to produce the necessary tax forms without delaying processing and refunds. However, in a sign of the controversy over provisions to raise taxes on some high-income taxpayers and close loopholes, no Republicans voted for the bill and eight Democrats voted against it.
The bill would raise taxes on managers of hedge funds and private equity firms by approximately $50 billion over the next decade. The bill, sponsored by Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, now goes to the Senate.
