Making or breaking the AMT
The Senate may vote to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax and extend tax breaks to companies. But the House is threatening to kill it if those breaks aren't paid for with tax cuts or increases somewhere else. Steve Henn reports.
U.S. Capitol Building (Getty Images)
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Scott Jagow: Today, the Senate may vote on the year's biggest tax bill. It would fix the Alternative Minimum Tax and extend tax breaks to companies. But the House is threatening to kill it if those breaks aren't paid for with tax cuts or increases somewhere else. Steve Henn reports from Washington.
Steve Henn: Congress is stuck in a fierce fight over how to pay for tax extensions. Many American businesses are caught in the middle.
Greg Wetstone at the American Wind Energy Association says his industry could lose a $300 million annual tax credit at the end of the year. That's already taking a toll.
Greg Wetstone: It's much harder now to get financing for 2009 projects. We've reached the point of the year now where investors are marking decisions.
The Energy Department estimates wind could generate 20 percent of America's electricity by 2030 -- but:
Wetstone: If we are going to achieve that, we've got to continue to grow at the rate we've been growing. This kind of a set back is going to make it much harder.
Other industries are affected, too. The country's research and development credit expired last year. The Information Technology Industry estimates that's already cost the economy $8.4 billion in lost growth.
In Washington, I'm Steve Henn for Marketplace.
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