Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008

The Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008 (H.R.6275) was a bill in the 110th Congress "to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide individuals temporary relief from the alternative minimum tax, and for other purposes." (Official title.)



Key votes

 * Vote to pass a bill that raises taxes on certain oil, investment, and credit companies and increases alternative minimum tax (AMT) exemptions.



Supporters

 * American Council on Education
 * American Express Company
 * BP
 * Caterpillar Inc.
 * Cisco Systems
 * Citigroup, Inc.
 * Coca-Cola Company
 * Genentech
 * General Motors Corp.
 * Goldman Sachs
 * Hewlett-Packard
 * Independent Sector
 * Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
 * Lockheed Martin
 * Merrill Lynch
 * Monsanto Company
 * National Committee on Planned Giving
 * News Corporation
 * Pacific Gas &amp; Electric
 * Pfizer
 * R&amp;D Credit Coalition
 * Texas Instruments
 * Time Warner, Inc.
 * Tupperware
 * VentureLoop, Inc.
 * Verizon
 * Zimmer, Inc.

Related legislation
A bill with the same title, the Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008 (H.R. 7005), was introduced September 23, 2008. Like its namesake, it sought "to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986" to provide "alternative minimum tax relief for individuals for 2008."



The House passed this bill on September 24, 2008, by a vote of 393-30, but the bill did not move forward in the Senate.

In December 2008, while discussions were ongoing over the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act of 2008 - which passed the House on December 10 - supporters of the auto industry bill in the Senate attempted to use the Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act as a so-called "shell" bill to which would be added the Senate's version of the auto industry bill. Negotiators in the Senate were unable to reach a compromise and the plan failed when the Senate rejected a cloture motion that would have allowed them to proceed to consideration of the auto bill by a vote of of 52-35 on December 11, 2008.



External articles

 * The Philadelphia Inquirer's Area Votes in Congress
 * The Philadelphia Inquirer's House passes AMT relief
 * Norwich Bulletin.com's Rep. Courtney votes in favor of tax relief bill