Signed by President George Bush

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to adopt a conference report that authorizes and extends $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.

Highlights:

• Extends the expensing limits on investments of depreciable assets for businesses through 2010 (Sec. 101).

• Continues reduced tax rates of 15 percent and 5 percent on capital gains and dividends through 2010 (Sec. 102).

• Exempts through 2010 income earned by certain environmental cleanup funds (Sec. 201).

• Repeals the requirements that a veteran must have served before 1977 in order to receive the benefits of qualified veterans' mortgage bond programs in Alaska, Oregon, and Wisconsin (Sec. 203).

• Provides an election to treat sales of certain musical compositions or copyrights as capital gains if created by the taxpayer (Sec. 204).

• Amends charges collected by ton on vessels entering the U.S. by reducing the weight threshold from 10,000 pounds to 6,000 pounds (Sec. 205).

• Exempts those filing a joint return on $62,550 or less and those filing a single return on $42,500 or less from the alternative minimum tax for taxable years beginning in 2006 (Sec. 301).

• Extends nonrefundable credit based on an individual's amount of regular tax liability and alternative minimum tax liability for the individual through 2006 (Sec. 302).

• Allows major oil companies to amortize certain expenditures over a longer period of time effective May 17, 2006 (Sec. 503).

• Increases the age at which a minor's unearned income is taxed at their parent's marginal tax rate to 18 (Sec. 510).

• Requires Federal, state and local governments to withhold a three percent tax on government payments made to persons or businesses beginning 2011 (Sec. 511).

• Removes the income limitation requirement of which individuals may switch from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) to Roth IRAs beginning 2010 (Sec. 512).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to adopt a conference report that authorizes and extends $69.96 billion in tax credits and cuts through 2010.

Highlights:

• Extends the expensing limits on investments of depreciable assets for businesses through 2010 (Sec. 101).

• Continues reduced tax rates of 15 percent and 5 percent on capital gains and dividends through 2010 (Sec. 102).

• Exempts through 2010 income earned by certain environmental cleanup funds (Sec. 201).

• Repeals the requirements that a veteran must have served before 1977 in order to receive the benefits of qualified veterans' mortgage bond programs in Alaska, Oregon, and Wisconsin (Sec. 203).

• Provides an election to treat sales of certain musical compositions or copyrights as capital gains if created by the taxpayer (Sec. 204).

• Amends charges collected by ton on vessels entering the U.S. by reducing the weight threshold from 10,000 pounds to 6,000 pounds (Sec. 205).

• Exempts those filing a joint return on $62,550 or less and those filing a single return on $42,500 or less from the alternative minimum tax for taxable years beginning in 2006 (Sec. 301).

• Extends nonrefundable credit based on an individual's amount of regular tax liability and alternative minimum tax liability for the individual through 2006 (Sec. 302).

• Allows major oil companies to amortize certain expenditures over a longer period of time effective May 17, 2006 (Sec. 503).

• Increases the age at which a minor's unearned income is taxed at their parent's marginal tax rate to 18 (Sec. 510).

• Requires Federal, state and local governments to withhold a three percent tax on government payments made to persons or businesses beginning 2011 (Sec. 511).

• Removes the income limitation requirement of which individuals may switch from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) to Roth IRAs beginning 2010 (Sec. 512).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes and extends $70 billion in tax credits and cuts.

Highlights:

• Appropriates $47.27 billion to the military including $25.41 billion for procurement and $16.9 billion for operation and maintenance of the Army.

• Appropriates $21.9 billion to veterans' healthcare and disability compensation and hospital infrastructure for veterans in 2006 though 2010, including $14 billion for disability compensation and $6.9 billion for medical services.

• Extends small businesses' ability to expense more business assets from 2008 through 2010 (Sec. 101).

• Provides tax credits of up to $2,000 for qualified individuals who invest in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) from 2006 through 2009 (Sec. 102).

• Provides a higher education tax deduction that may equal up to the amount of "the qualified tuition and related expenses" from 2005 through 2009 (Sec. 103).

• Provides for the deduction of state and local general sales taxes instead of state income taxes from 2006 through 2008 (Sec. 105).

• Exempts those filing a joint return on $62,550 or less and those filing a single return on $42,500 or less from the alternative minimum tax (Sec. 106). 

• Allows nonrefundable credits against regular tax liability and alternative minimum tax liability for individuals through 2007 (Sec. 107).

• Provides a tax credit for increasing research activities from 2005 through 2007 (Sec. 108).

• Repeals the welfare-to-work credit and places it in a modified work opportunity tax credit that increases the credit for employment of "long term family assistance recipients" through 2007 (Sec. 109).

• Creates a tax credit for mine rescue team training and allows 50 percent of the cost of mine safety equipment to be expensed for three years (Secs. 313-314).

• Changes the tax on oil companies that produce 500,000 barrels per year so that if the value of the oil increases beyond what the oil company paid for it, then the oil companies' taxable gross income will be increase by the amount of the discrepancy (Sec. 461).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that reduces federal spending by $56.1 billion over five years by decreasing the amount of funds spent on Medicaid, Medicare, agriculture, employee pensions, conservation, student loans, and other projects and retains a reduced tax rate on capital gains and dividends.

Highlights:

All tax provisions in highlights are extended by a period of one year, except where noted otherwise.

• Continues to allow taxpayers to claim personal tax credits for disabled or dependent care, the HOPE college expenses, certain home mortgages and Life Learning Credits against the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) in order to decrease the number of people that will be required to pay the AMT (Sec. 101).

• Lengthens wage tax credit for employment on Indian reservations continues to allow businesses that are located on reservations accelerated depreciation rates on their investments (Sec. 102).

• Extends the opportunity tax credit as well as the credit for individuals who have been receiving public assistance for an extended period of time (welfare-to-work credit) (Sec. 103).

• Increases the age limit for eligibility for food stamp recipients from 25 to 35 years (Sec. 103).

• Extends the availability of the Archer Medical Savings Account Program (MSA) (Sec. 106).

• Retains tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia (Sec. 110).

• Increases and lengthens tax credits for certain research expenses (Sec. 113).

• Extends the qualified zone academy bonds program that provides funding for school renovations, equipment and teacher training in high-need areas (Sec. 114).

• Allows for deductions of state and local general sales taxes instead of state income taxes through 2007 instead of 2006 (Sec. 117)

• Extends through 2007 the expense allowances for environmental remediation costs (the cost of cleanup of sites where petroleum products have been released or disposed) (Sec. 201).

• Continues reduced tax rates of 15 percent and 5 percent on capital gains and dividends through 2010 (Sec. 203).

• Continues the "saver's credit" program which allows qualified individuals who invest in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) to receive a Federal "matching" tax credit through 2008 (Sec. 204).

• Increases the expensing limits on investments of depreciable assets for small businesses through 2010 (Sec. 205).

• Repeals the requirement that a veteran must have served before 1977, in order to receive the benefits of qualified veterans' mortgage bond programs and imposes specific dollar limitations on some states (Sec. 303).

• Allows an election to treat an artist's musical sales as capital gains "certain self-created musical works" when these works are sold by the artist (Sec. 304).

• Amends charges collected by ton on vessels entering the US by reducing the weight threshold from 10,000 pounds to 6,000 pounds (Sec. 305).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text