House Attempts To Schedule Quick Vote On International Tax Bill

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

04 June 2004

Reports this week have indicated that senior House lawmakers are busy scheduling a vote on their version of a key corporate tax bill designed to end punitive European Union tariffs on US exports.

However, there remains a degree of uncertainty as to when the vote is able to take place owing to the fact that two top members of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee will be in Europe next week to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the D-Day landings.

According to the Chairman of the Committee Bill Thomas (R – Calif), the author of the bill, the situation is still very much “up in the air".

However, House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R – Texas) offered a more optimistic outlook, telling reporters that the bill will be “marked up” next week and brought to the floor of the House “as soon as possible”.

The House version of the bill differs from the recently passed Senate JOBS bill in that it places more emphasis on reforming the international tax code and giving more breaks to US multinationals with overseas operations in return for the loss of FSC/ETI legislation.

The JOBS bill contains proposals to cut corporate tax for US manufactures by 3% and also contains a variety of other more specialist tax breaks and offsetting revenue-raising measures, such as a tightening of the corporate/municipal leasing depreciation rules.

Even so, the cost of the Senate package amounts to £170 billion.

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