The House voted 216-193 on Friday to keep 21 million middle-class taxpayers from paying the alternative minimum tax (AMT) next year. Republicans opposed the measure because the bill is funded by raising the tax on carried interest, paid exclusively by investment bankers, from 15% to 35%.
Friday’s bill would extend AMT relief for one year, at a cost of about $51 billion. It includes another $30 billion in largely popular tax relief measures, including expanding the child tax credit, providing a property tax deduction to some 30 million families and extending a tax exemption for the combat pay of military personnel.