Economists warn of perils of expiring tax cuts

Washington Times ^ | 4-23-07 | Patrice Hill

[JZelle]

Congress will have to steer carefully to avoid a shock to the economy as it strives to balance the budget by allowing tax cuts to expire in the next few years, economists say.

The biggest danger is the alternative minimum tax (AMT), which this year is scheduled to cut deeply into the pocketbooks of as many as 23 million upper-middle-income taxpayers unless Congress extends tax relief.

President Bush's budget and the House and Senate spending plans rely on the expiration of AMT relief to achieve balance in the next five years. Mr. Bush's budget provides a one-year fix of the tax, costing $36 billion this year, while providing extensions of his own tax cuts that expire in 2011.

[snowsislander]

I think that the Democrats will let all of the tax cuts expire if they are still in power despite the quoted rhetoric in the article about them preserving tax cuts for the middle class.

[JZelle]

I agree

[Disambiguator]

“Middle class”, to a Democrat, means someone making less than $35k/year. More than that, and you’re “rich.”

[greasepaint]

attn: Bush

Thanks a lot for throwing the
Republican congressional majority away.

[Moonman62]

President Bush's budget and the House and Senate spending plans rely on the expiration of AMT relief to achieve balance in the next five years. Mr. Bush's budget provides a one-year fix of the tax, costing $36 billion this year,

Costing? That's spoken like we are a government with a country, rather than the other way around.