Tax Breaks Added to Bailout Plan Scheduled for Vote Today
A vote is set for today in the Senate on a revised $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan that carries tax breaks and higher government insurance for bank deposits.
The changes are aimed at attracting more support for the proposal that failed in the House on Monday, the New York Times reports.
The bill would expand tax breaks for renewable energy, protect more people from the alternative minimum tax, expand the child tax credit, extend the business tax credit for research and development, and give tax relief to recent victims of natural disasters, the story says.
The proposal also calls for raising the amount of bank deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from $100,000 to $250,000. A Washington Post story says the increase would be for one year only.
Lawmakers are also considering a change in the “mark to market” accounting rule for valuing assets, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The idea is being floated at the same time that the Securities and Exchange Commission issued an interpretation of the accounting standard that could make it easier for banks to value assets when there are no buyers. The New York Times reports in a separate story that banks will be able to report smaller losses or even profits under the new interpretation.
