Tax Relief 2010 - What is the plan?

The passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set into motion a wide specturm of programs to aid the United States as a whole in the implementation of an aggresive recovery plan to re-establish and promote an improved economic and infrastructure outlook for the future in America. Many of us have seen the signs and posting related to the implementation of this plan in our states, city and towns across the country. Each of these programs are expected to have wide reaching impacts in our communities as it relates to educations, roads, small business, communication and so many other areas of opportunity to improve the current and future state of the United States. What is about to follow is but a slice of a much larger pie of how it is being implemented and resources that are available if you have a deeper and wider interest. The recovery.gov website is one stop shopping to gain full insight to the act as it relates to planning, tracking, implementation, transparency, progress to date and expectations for the future.

The Office of Tax Analysis estimates that, as of June 2010, $223 billion in tax relief has been made available. This relief comes in various forms including the Making Work Pay tax credit, COBRA Continuation Coverage Assistance, and tax incentives for businesses.

On Feb. 13, 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 at the urging of President Obama, who signed it into law four days later. A direct response to the economic crisis, the Recovery Act has three immediate goals:
* Create new jobs and save existing ones
* Spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth
* Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending

The Recovery Act intends to achieve those goals by:

Providing $288 billion in tax cuts and benefits for millions of working families and businesses. Increasing federal funds for education and health care as well as entitlement programs (such as extending unemployment benefits) by $224 billion. Making $275 billion available for federal contracts, grants and loans. Requiring recipients of Recovery funds to report quarterly on how they are using the money. All the data is posted on Recovery.gov so the public can track the Recovery funds.

Cumulative as of....................Mar '09 - Jun '10

Making Work Pay..........................$73.0
Other Individual Credits...............$98.0
Energy Incentives..........................$7.3
Tax Incentives for Business...........$38.5
COBRA...........................................$4.8
Manufacturing & Economic Recovery,
Infrastructure Refinancing, Other...$1.4
Cumulative Totals........................$223.0

In addition to offering financial aid directly to local school districts, expanding the Child Tax Credit, and underwriting a process to computerize health records to reduce medical errors and save on health care costs, the Recovery Act is targeted at infrastructure development and enhancement. For instance, the Act plans investment in the domestic renewable energy industry and the weatherizing of 75 percent of federal buildings as well as more than one million private homes around the country.

Construction and repair of roads and bridges as well as scientific research and the expansion of broadband and wireless service are also included among the many projects that the Recovery Act will fund.

While many of Recovery Act projects are focused more immediately on jumpstarting the economy, others, especially those involving infrastructure improvements, are expected to contribute to economic growth for many years.