News reports state that the House will consider an AMT patch bill that has already passed the Senate. The Senate version of the AMT bill does not contain any tax offsets (or “paygo”) provisions. Earlier, the House had passed an AMT patch that contained such offsets.
Last night the Senate again considered the House bill and it again failed (48 – 46, with 60 votes needed). All but one of the Republicans present voted against the bill while all Democrats present voted for the measure.
Thus, the House was left with no option but to consider the Senate version of the AMT patch, or the Democrats would end up being blamed for a tax increase on the middle class. Unfortunately, due to the lateness of the bill, the IRS forms that millions of taxpayers will receive will have incorrect information, and it’s probable that the IRS will be unable to process individuals’ tax returns until sometime in March.