House GOP Cut Some Post-Katrina Tax Breaks

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans decided Tuesday to stop casinos, massage parlors and liquor stores from cashing in on tax breaks for businesses in Gulf Coast communities ravaged by hurricanes, The Associated Press reported.

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., lead the movement to carve those businesses out of any special tax incentives intended to lure jobs and commerce back to the region.

The provisions were among three tax bills slated for the House's agenda on Wednesday. Some of the docket extends tax provisions due to expire at the end of the year, such as rules that let soldiers count their combat pay toward calculating the earned income tax credit, a benefit for low-wage earners designed to keep working families out of poverty.

Other items fulfill promises that lawmakers made earlier this year. The largest of the three bills up for debate in the House reduces taxes more than $31 billion and prevents the alternative minimum tax from grabbing more middle-class families next year.

The last of the three bills extends minor tax provisions due to expire at the end of the year and allows Puerto Rico to share in a new tax break for manufacturers next year.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 12/7/05