Tax Relief Act of 2005
Latest action. Passed Senate with an amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 64 - 33. Record Vote Number: 347.
Tax Relief Act of 2005 - Title I: Tax Benefits for Areas Affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma - Subtitle A: Gulf Opportunity Zone Benefits - (Sec. 101) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to add as Subchapter Z (Hurricane Relief Benefits) provisions to designate a Gulf Opportunity or GO Zone, a Rita GO Zone, and a Wilma GO Zone to provide tax benefits for areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, respectively.
Allows a bonus depreciation allowance of 50 percent of the cost of qualified GO Zone property acquired after August 27, 2005, and on or before December 31, 2007 (December 31, 2008, for nonresidential real property and residential rental property) for trade or business purposes. Exempts such bonus depreciation from the alternative minimum tax.
Increases to $200,000 the expensing allowance for GO Zone property and expands the phaseout threshold for such allowance.
Authorizes the states of Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi to issue GO Zone bonds until January 1, 2011, for investment in the GO Zone. Limits the aggregate face amount of such bonds to $2,500 multiplied by populations in the GO Zone as determined by census figures released prior to August 28, 2005. Exempts interest on such bonds from the alternative minimum tax.
Permits an additional advance refunding of existing bond obligations issued by the states of Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi prior to January 1, 2007.
Allows the states of Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi to allocate housing credit amounts between 2006 and 2009 equal to three times the normal allocation for populations in each state's GO Zone. Designates the GO Zone as a difficult development area for purposes of allowing an increased low-income housing tax credit.
Allows operators of qualified residential rental projects to rely on income representations of tenants displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
Allows an increase in the allocation of the new markets tax credit for qualified community development entities that engage in recovery and redevelopment projects in the GO Zone.
The summary continues for 111 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed Senate amended" stage on November 18, 2005. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
2 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on November 18, 2005: Passed Senate with an amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 64 - 33. Record Vote Number: 347.
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 2 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Charles Grassley (R-IA) introduced it on November 16, 2005. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 16, 2005, 7603 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7601 days ago, on November 18, 2005.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenatePassed
- HouseAwaiting House vote
- PresidentAwaits both chambers