12 /20/10 Friday night, Congressman Joe Donnelly voted in favor of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, H.R. 4853, the compromise tax bill that includes a two-year extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and a 13-month extension of unemployment benefits.

“I voted for the legislation before the House tonight because we need to provide tax relief to Hoosier families,” said Donnelly.  “No legislation is perfect, but I believe this compromise will best provide continued tax relief for all working Americans and will continue to move our economy forward by providing important tax incentives for businesses.  Additionally, this bill provides much-needed assistance to our friends and neighbors still looking for work.  I trust the president will sign this bill into law quickly so every American family and business can look to the future with confidence.”

Beyond the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax rates for all income levels for two years, other provisions in this legislation include:

  • Extending unemployment benefits: The bill extends unemployment benefits at their current level for 13 months, preventing an estimated 7 million American workers from losing their benefits as they continue to look for work.
  • Reducing the employee-side payroll tax rate by 2%: The legislation includes an employee-side payroll tax rate cut of 2% for over 155 million American workers.
  • Providing 100% expensing for businesses: The bill allows businesses to expense 100% of their investments in 2011 and 50% of their investments in 2012.
  • Reinstating the Research & Development (R&D) tax credit – The bill reinstates the R&D tax credit for two years.
  • Extending the child tax credit: The legislation continues the child tax credit of up to $1,000 per child for an additional two years.
  • Ensuring there is no marriage penalty: The bill ensures that the standard deduction for couples is exactly twice that for single filers and maintains an expanded 15% tax bracket so that the amount of income in that bracket for joint filers is exactly double that for single filers.
  • Continuing the American Opportunity Tax Credit: This partially refundable $2,500 tax credit that helps more than 8 million students and their families afford the cost of college continues for two more years under this bill.
  • Extending the ethanol tax credit: The bill extends through 2011 the per-gallon tax credits and outlay payments for ethanol. The bill also extends through 2011 the existing tariff on imported ethanol and the related tariff on ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE).

H.R. 4853 passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 277 to 148.  The bill is now awaiting the president’s signature in order to be made law.