Vote number 2005-347 extending the tax cuts on capital gains and dividends
on Nov 18, 2005 regarding bill S. 2020 Tax Relief Act of 2005
Results: Bill passed, 64-33

This large piece of legislation (418 pages) includes numerous provisions, generally related to extending the tax cuts initiated by President Bush. This vote was on final passage of the bill. The specific provisions include:

1. Extension Of Expiring Provisions: for business expenses, retirement savings contributions, higher education expenses, new markets tax credit, and deducting state and local sales taxes.
2. Provisions Relating To Charitable Donations, and Reforming Charitable Organizations
3. Improved Accountability of Donor Advised Funds
4. Improvements in Efficiency and Safeguards in IRS Collection

Opponents of the bill recommend voting NAY because:
• Health care for children (among many other things) should come before tax cuts for the wealthy.
• The 2-year cost of the extensions on capital gains tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans is $20 billion. So if we defer the tax break the administration is pushing for the wealthiest people in America, we would have enough money to provide basic health insurance for every uninsured child in America, and we would eliminate 20% of the uninsured Americans with that single act alone.

Proponents of the bill recommend voting YEA because:
• The largest provision in the bill--about $30 billion of tax relief--amounts to half of the net tax package and is designed to keep 14 million people out of the Alternative Minimum Tax. The AMT is terrible and should be repealed.
• College tuition benefits for families who send their kids to college -- by definition, this benefit goes to middle-income families.
• The small savers' credit -- for low-income folks that save through an IRA or pension plan.
• Many small businesses use the small business expensing benefit to buy equipment on an efficient after-tax basis. It is good for small business. It is good for economic growth.

Categorized under Tax Reform

Voting NO counts for 2 points on VoteMatch question 11:
Make taxes more progressive;
Voting YES counts for -2 points on VoteMatch question 11.