Tax package at a glance

Highlights of the tax package the House approved Thursday. It would cost about $858 billion; most provisions, which were to expire Jan. 1, would be extended for two years, unless noted.

The package extends:

• Lower tax rates for taxpayers at every income level. The top rate, on taxable income above $379,150, would stay at 35 percent, instead of increasing to 39.6 percent. The bottom rate, on taxable income below $8,500 for individuals and $17,000 for married couples, would stay at 10 percent, instead of increasing to 15 percent. Cost: $186.8 billion.

• More generous itemized deductions for high-income households. Cost: $20.7 billion.

• A more generous $1,000 child tax credit. Cost: $71.7 billion.

• Marriage penalty relief, increasing the standard deduction for married couples. Cost: $18 billion.

• A more generous Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income families. Cost: $15.7 billion.

• A deduction for tuition and related expenses for higher education, for 2010 and 2011. Cost: $1.2 billion.

• Through 2011, enhanced jobless benefits for people who have been long unemployed. Cost: $56.5 billion.

• A series of incentives for selling, using and producing alternative fuels, including ethanol. Cost: $11.3 billion.

• A federal income tax deduction for state and local sales taxes, taken mostly by people who live in the nine states – including Washington – without state income taxes, for 2010 and 2011. Cost: $5.5 billion.

• A business tax credit for research and experimentation expenses, for 2010 and 2011. Cost: $13.3 billion.

The package also:

• Spares more than 20 million middle-income households from tax increases averaging $3,900 from the Alternative Minimum Tax in 2010 and 2011. Cost: $136.7 billion.

• Imposes a lower estate tax for the next two years, allowing couples to pass estates as large as $10 million to heirs tax-free. The balance would be taxed at 35 percent. Cost: $68.1 billion.

• Provides a one-year Social Security tax cut for all wage earners, from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. Cost: $112 billion.

Associated Press