Tax Extenders Act Of 2009

Am I the only one who think this bill sounds like a bad infomercial?

But the Tax Extenders Act of 2009 is a real bill introduced on December 7, 2009 by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY). The title of the bill is as follows: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend certain expiring provisions, and for other purposes.

It does pretty much what it says on the tin: it extends certain bits of the Code due to expire. Among those extensions for individual taxpayers:

election to deduct state and local general sales taxes instead of state and local income taxes;
the standard tax deduction for state and local real property taxes;
penalty-free distributions from IRAs to qualified charities;
the tax deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses; and
the tax deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers.

With respect to business taxpayers, the bill would extend a number of provisions, including:

research tax credit;
tax treatment of certain items affecting U.S. shareholders of controlled foreign corporation;
accelerated depreciation for certain business property;
enhanced expensing allowance for certain film and television production costs;
tax credit for differential wages payments to employees who are active duty members of the Uniformed Services; and
tax rules relating to regulated investment companies (RICs)

The bill contains a lot more extensions, including those related to disaster relief, energy conservation and production and Indian tribes. It also revises and adds reporting requirements for certain foreign accounts.

It’s kind of your “everything but the kitchen sink” extension bill. And rumor has it, it passed (though I can’t find the roll call – will let you know as soon as it shows up).