American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012

American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012

Long title	An act to extend certain tax relief provisions enacted in 2001 and 2003, and to provide for expedited consideration of a bill providing for comprehensive tax reform, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	ATRA
Enacted by	the 112th United States Congress
Effective	January 1, 2013
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 112–240 (text) (PDF)
Statutes at Large	126 Stat. 2313
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as the "Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act of 2012" (H.R. 8) by Dave Camp (R–MI) on July 24, 2012 Committee consideration by Ways and Means Passed the House on August 1, 2012 (256–171) Passed the Senate as the "American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012" on January 1, 2013 (89–8) with amendment House agreed to Senate amendment on January 1, 2013 (257–167) Signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 2, 2013

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) was enacted and passed by the United States Congress on January 1, 2013, and was signed into law by US President Barack Obama the next day. ATRA gave permanence to the lower rates of much of the "Bush tax cuts".^[1]

The Act centers on a partial resolution to the US fiscal cliff by addressing the expiration of certain provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (known together as the "Bush tax cuts"), which had been temporarily extended by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. The Act also addressed the activation of the Budget Control Act of 2011's budget sequestration provisions.

A compromise measure, the Act gives permanence to the lower rate of much of the Bush tax cuts, while retaining the higher tax rate at upper income levels that became effective on January 1 due to the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. It also establishes caps on tax deductions and credits for those at upper income levels. It does not tackle federal spending levels to a great extent, rather leaving that for further negotiations and legislation. The American Taxpayer Relief Act passed by a wide majority in the Senate, with both Democrats and Republicans supporting it, while most of the House Republicans opposed it.