A bill extending middle-class tax cuts through 2010 passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by a bipartisan vote Sept. 23, garnering the support of local congressmen Ted Strickland and Bob Ney and Athens residents.
The Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 extends certain tax relief provisions, particularly those that affect families, through 2010.
The bill, which passed by a vote of 339-65, now goes to the U.S Senate.
The act extends the marriage penalty relief, which expands the 15 percent income bracket for married taxpayers filing jointly and raises the standard deduction for joint filers.
The expanded 10-percent income tax bracket, created in 2001 and allowing more people to file in the bottom 10 percent bracket, as well as the $1,000 child tax credit, which gives each family $1,000 per child, have been extended as well.
Strickland, D-Lisbon, said the bill is not the type he would have written because the tax cuts are not paid for, but he voted for it because the cuts are directed toward the working class.
It would have been rubbing salt into the raw wounds of the working people to not have extended this tax relief to them
he said.
Charlie Hooper, 6909 S. Blackburn Road, said he thinks the extended tax cuts will benefit Athens families, particularly those who are married or have children. Hooper, an accountant, is married with grown children.
I was in favor of it when it passed the first time and I'm in favor of it now he said. It can't be anything but positive for (families) and the economy.
The extended provisions most directly affect middle-income families in the bottom 15 and 25 percent tax brackets, or those with family incomes between $14,000 and $114,650, according to the bill and 2004 federal tax records.
Personal income per capita in Athens County was $18,660 in 2000. In Ohio, personal income per capita was $27,977 in 2000, compared to $29,469 for the United States, according to federal tax records.
The bill also provides increased assistance to military families living in combat zones and extends alternative minimum tax exemption for married couples and individuals, allowing more people to take advantage of money-saving alternative tax codes.
A uniform definition of a child for tax purposes has also been created, according to the bill, making it easier for families to determine if they qualify for child exemption credit. In addition, tax provisions that expired in 2003 -mostly filing protocols -have been extended through 2005.
Although Strickland supported the middle-income tax cuts, he criticized President George W. Bush's total tax package and said it would make tax cuts to those in the highest bracket permanent and would continue cutting taxes on corporations and businesses.
The current deficit is a result of the president's tax cuts for the wealthy, he said, and he intends to oppose any other tax bills aimed at benefiting wealthy Americans that are presented to the House.
In his stump speeches, the president has continually emphasized his middle-class tax cuts instead of government spending, tax cuts for the wealthy or the deficit, which is now more than $7 trillion.
My preference would have been to repay the deficit with taxes on the wealthy not the middle-class
Strickland said.
Purchasing power for the average family has decreased by about $1,300 during the last three and a half years. Irresponsible allocation of resources has spurred the nation's large deficit, he said.
Ney, R-St. Clairsville, was not available for comment, but voted in favor of the bill.
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