Senate Plans Action on Tax Extenders

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee said they intend to work on passing legislation to extend expiring tax breaks early next year.

In a joint letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, acknowledged that the House and Senate were unable to reach a deal on the tax credits before Congress adjourns for the holidays. The House passed its version of the tax extenders legislation earlier this month, but the Senate has been consumed with debate over health care reform (see House Passes Tax Extenders Bill). Among the tax breaks covered in the House bill are extensions of the research and development credit, deduction of state and local sales taxes, and the additional standard deduction for real property taxes.

“Although the House and Senate were unable to come to agreement on a package to extend several expiring tax provisions before Congress adjourned, these measures must be addressed as soon as possible,” said Baucus and Grassley in a joint statement. “These expiring tax provisions help American families and businesses and address some of our most urgent national priorities, including job creation, at a critical time in our nation’s economic recovery. Expiration of these provisions makes it difficult for taxpayers to fully and effectively realize the intended benefits by creating uncertainty and complexity in the tax law. In an effort to provide a seamless extension of these provisions with the fewest disruptions and administrative problems, we will take up legislation as quickly as possible in the new year.”

In the letter, they pledged to extend the tax provisions “without a gap in coverage,” and they singled out “energy tax provisions, including the biodiesel tax credit, and natural disaster relief.”