Congressman Maffei Applauds Tax Cuts for Families and Businesses on this Tax Day

Press Release

Today Congressman Dan Maffei applauded the broad-based tax cuts for working and middle-class families and small business owners that Congress and the President have worked on in the last year. In total, this Congress has enacted more than $800 billion in tax cuts. To learn more about cost-cutting provisions for car buyers, veterans, and businesses, click here for the IRS's complete list of Recovery Act tax credits.

Congressman Maffei said: "Our economy won't be truly strong until our families are secure and our small businesses are growing, and tax cuts are an effective way to ultimately reach that goal. Congress has already cut taxes by more than $800 billion, but I know we can do more to make our economy stronger. In addition to the Recovery Act, I'm working on legislation like overhauling the Empowerment Zone tax credits so it is more efficient for cities like Syracuse."

Some examples of how the Recovery Act helped families:

· Making Work Pay Tax Cut: Provides 95 percent of working families immediate and sustained tax relief -- $400 for an individual or $800 for married couples filing jointly. Experts estimate this tax cut will put money back in the pockets of hundreds of thousands of families in our area.

· Child Tax Credit: Cuts taxes for the families of more than 16 million by reducing the minimum amount of earned income used to calculate the tax credit.

· Earned Income Tax Credit: Expands the Earned Income Tax Credit by increasing the tax credit for families with three or more children, bringing the maximum amount to $5,657.

· American Opportunity Tax Credit: Provides up to $2,500 in tax credits to help an additional 4 million students attend college.

· Alternative Minimum Tax Relief: Protects 26 million middle-class families from being hit by the alternative minimum tax.

· First-Time Homebuyers: Enhances the current first-time homebuyer tax credit by increasing it to $8,000 and removes the repayment requirement. Due to the success of this provision, the credit was extended.

· Incentives to Buy New Cars: Allows taxpayers to deduct the state and local sales taxes and excise taxes paid on the purchase of new vehicles purchased from Feb. 17, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2009.

· Tax Free Unemployment Benefits: Makes the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits (which are normally taxable) received in 2009 tax free.

Congress is working on another $285 billion in tax cuts now, such as permanent estate tax relief and a research and development tax credit to spur business innovation. Congressman Maffei has also introduced legislation to overhaul the Empowerment Zone legislation to make it more effective for cities like Syracuse to draw businesses to downtown.

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