The bill introduced yesterday by House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican, makes almost no policy changes to the breaks and extends almost all of those that lapsed at the end of last year.
One exception is a tax credit that pays for health care of laid-off workers.
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Another break that wouldn't be revived in the House bill is a tax credit for two-wheeled and three-wheeled plug-in vehicles that is backed by Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat. Brammo Inc., a maker of electric motorcycles, is based in Wyden's home state.
Wyden said last night that he would advocate for health care for workers and mentioned renewable energy and transportation as issues in question.
"The balance is really the key" to getting bipartisan support for a plan, he told reporters after a meeting of Finance Committee Democrats. "Certainty, predictability and balance."
Two-year extension
Wyden, who advocates a two-year extension of most lapsed breaks, wouldn't say whether he would support a one-year bill. He said taking a position was akin to negotiating in public.
The House bill would mean the tax breaks — most of which expired at the end of 2013 — would become law less than a month before they expire, sapping much of their value as incentives.
Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican poised to become chairman of the Finance Committee in January, told reporters yesterday that he preferred a two-year bill though he didn't rule out supporting a one-year measure.
The Senate Finance panel approved a bill earlier this year that would extend the lapsed tax breaks through 2015.
A two-year bill lacked enough support from House Republicans, said a Republican aide who sought anonymity to discuss the plan. That's because many would accept some provisions only to prevent filing season delays and were unwilling to extend them into 2015, the aide said.
Multinational corporations
Most of the breaks in the package expired on Dec. 31, 2013. They include the ability for multinational corporations such as Citigroup Inc. to defer taxes on certain overseas financing income.
Other lapsed breaks include the production tax credit for wind energy and a provision that lets individuals exclude forgiven debt from income on short sales of houses.
As many as one in six taxpayers could be affected if the breaks aren't extended, according to H&R Block Inc., the largest U.S. tax-preparation company.
The broader plan that collapsed last week would have extended most of the lapsed breaks through 2015 and locked in others permanently.
Senate Democratic leaders, including Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, were able to secure some of their priorities in that tentative deal. That included a permanent deduction for state sales taxes and extension of a tuition tax credit that expires at the end of 2017.
Veto threat
President Barack Obama threatened to veto the emerging deal because it didn't extend expansions of the child tax credit and earned income tax credit that lapse at the end of 2017. Administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, contended that the package was tilted too heavily toward corporations and not low-income families.
Tiberi told reporters that it was "disappointing" that the talks between Camp and Reid didn't yield a bill.
"Rather than provide leadership, the president continues to do the opposite," Tiberi said.
The credits Obama wanted to extend have high error and fraud rates, said the Republican aide. Obama's immigration policy change made the issue even more complicated, the aide said.
"There's certainly a long way to go," Wyden said.
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