Alternative Minimum Tax and Extenders Tax Relief Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3098
Sponsor: Sen. McConnell, Mitch [R-KY]
Introduced: 2008-06-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Agriculture and Food
Air conditioning
Alcohol tax
Alcoholic beverages
Alternative energy sources
American Samoa
Armed Forces and National Security
Arts, Culture, Religion
Biomass energy
Books
Capital gains tax
Charitable contributions
College costs
Commerce
Corporation taxes
Crime and Law Enforcement
Department of the Treasury
Depletion allowances
Depreciation and amortization
Depressed areas
Diesel motor
Economic development
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Education of the disadvantaged
Electric appliances
Electric power transmission
Electric utilities
Elementary and secondary education
Emergency Management
Energy
Energy conservation
Energy efficiency
Enterprise zones
Environmental Protection
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Foreign corporations
Fuel cells
Government Operations and Politics
Health
Health insurance
Heat pumps
Heating
Higher education
Holding companies
Housing and Community Development
Hurricanes
Incineration
Income tax
Indian economic development
Insurance
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Inventories
Irrigation
Labor and Employment
Leases
Local taxation
Military pay
Mine safety
Minimum tax
Minorities
Minority employment
Motion pictures
Mutual funds
Ocean energy resources
Puerto Rico
Railroad engineering
Refrigeration
Refuse as fuel
Rescue work
Research and development tax credit
Restaurants
Sales tax
School buildings
Science, Technology, Communications
Small business
Social Welfare
Social security taxes
Solar energy
Sports and Recreation
State taxation
Stocks
Subsidiary corporations
Tax administration
Tax credits
Tax deductions
Tax exclusion
Tax exemption
Tax returns
Tax-exempt organizations
Taxation of foreign income
Teachers
Television industry
Terrorism
Transportation and Public Works
Undercover operations
Virgin Islands
Water Resources Development
Water conservation

Summary:
action_date: 2008-06-06
text: 
Alternative Minimum Tax and Extenders Tax Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend expiring provisions relating to the alternative minimum tax, individual and business taxpayers, energy conservation, and tax administration. 

Extends through 2008 for individual taxpayers: (1) the offset of nonrefundable personal tax credits against regular and alternative minimum tax (AMT) liabilities; and (2) the increased AMT exemption amounts. 

Extends through 2009: (1) the election to deduct state and local sales taxes in lieu of state and local income taxes; (2) the tax deductions for qualified tuition and related expenses and for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers; (3) tax-free distributions from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for charitable purposes; and (4) tax rules for treatment of stock and dividends of regulated investment companies and for qualified investment entities.

Extends through 2009 various business-related tax provisions, including: (1) the tax credit for increasing research activities; (2) the new markets tax credit; (3) the subpart F income exemption for active financing income; (4) accelerated depreciation for qualified leasehold and restaurant improvements, for business property on Indian reservations, and for motorsports racing track facilities; (5) the expanded tax deductions for charitable contributions of food and book inventories by noncorporate taxpayers; (6) the special rules for related controlled foreign corporations and for the tax treatment of certain payments to tax-exempt organizations by a controlled subsidiary; (7) the special rule for reductions in the basis of S corporation stock for charitable contributions of property; (8) the increase in alcohol excise taxes payable to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands; (9) the economic development credit for American Samoa; (10) tax incentives for mine rescue team training and advanced mine safety equipment; (11) expensing allowances for film and television production costs and for environmental remediation costs; (12) the tax deduction for income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico; (13) issuance authority for qualified zone academy bonds; (14) the Indian employment tax credit; (15) the tax credit for railroad track maintenance; and (16) work opportunity tax credit eligibility for Hurricane Katrina employees (through August 28, 2009).

Extends through 2009 tax credits for: (1) production of electricity from certain renewable resources; (2) residential energy efficient property expenditures; (3) investment in clean renewable energy bonds; (4) energy efficient improvements to principal residences; (5) new energy efficient home expenditures; (6) energy efficient home appliances produced after 2007; and (7) biodiesel, renewable, and certain alternative fuels. 

Includes marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy as a renewable resource for purposes of the tax credit for producing electricity from renewable resources.

Extends through 2016 the investment tax credit for solar energy, fuel cell, and microturbine property. Repeals the dollar per kilowatt limitation on fuel cell property. Allows the offset of energy tax credit amounts against the AMT. Allows public electric utility property to qualify for the energy investment tax credit. 

Extends through 2009: (1) the tax deduction for energy efficient commercial buildings; and (2) the suspension of the taxable income limitation on percentage depletion for oil and natural gas produced from marginal properties.

Makes permanent IRS authority to: (1) conduct undercover operations; (2) disclose tax information to state agencies to facilitate combined employment tax reporting; and (3) disclose tax return information to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) for veterans benefit determinations. Extends through 2009 IRS authority to disclose tax return information related to terrorist activities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-06-09
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 771.
action_date: 2008-06-06
text: Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5367-5372)
action_date: 2008-06-06
text: Introduced in Senate