Ping-Pong Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Bill
After failing last week to obtain Senate agreement on his proposed AMT bill, Ways and Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) brought to the House a new AMT Relief Act of 2007. The bill passed December 13, 2007 by a party-line vote of 226-193.

The new AMT relief bill increases the exclusions for married persons to $66,250 and for single persons to $44,350. However, it also includes "offsets" to pay for the tax relief. The offsets or tax increases are on hedge-fund managers, on businesses with international divisions and other tax compliance changes.

Chairman Rangel noted, "Once again, the House has fulfilled it's constitutional responsibility and reported out a bill to provide immediate tax relief for more than 23 million families who would otherwise face a tax increase this year under the AMT." Recognizing that the bill will be opposed in the Senate, he continued, "With passage of this bill, we are giving the Senate Republicans another opportunity to be responsible and hopefully, this time, they will do the right thing and support this critical relief."

The Ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Jim McCrery (R-LA), responded by noting that the bill faced a certain defeat in the Senate. Rep. McCrery indicated, "The Senate wisely rejected the idea of including tax increases in the AMT, passing a 'clean' AMT patch by a vote of 88-5. House Democrats, however, continue to insist on adding tax increases to the AMT, an approach that the Senate has rejected, the President said he will veto, and which twists the idea of paygo on its head."