Bush tax cuts

The phrase Bush tax cuts refers to changes to the United States tax code passed originally during the presidency of George W. Bush and extended during the presidency of Barack Obama, through: Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA) Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (partial extension) While each act has its own legislative history and effect on the tax code, the JGTRRA amplified and accelerated aspects of the EGTRRA. Since 2003, the two acts have often been spoken of together, especially in terms of analyzing their effect on the U.S. economy and population and in discussing their political ramifications. Both laws were passed using controversial Congressional reconciliation procedures. The Bush tax cuts had sunset provisions that made them expire at the end of 2010, since otherwise they would fall under the Byrd Rule. Whether to renew the lowered rates, and how, became the subject of extended political debate, which was resolved during the presidency of Barack Obama by a two-year extension that was part of a larger tax and economic package, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. In 2012, during the fiscal cliff, Obama made the tax cuts permanent for single people earning less than

400,000 per year and couples making less than

450,000 per year, and eliminated them for everyone else, under the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Before the tax cuts, the highest marginal income tax rate was 39.6 percent. After the cuts, the highest rate was 35 percent. Once the cuts were eliminated for high income levels (single people making

400,000+ per year and couples making

450,000+ per year), the top income tax rate returned to 39.6 percent. The 2001 act and the 2003 act significantly lowered the marginal tax rates for nearly all U.S. taxpayers.

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Related concepts (11)

Bush tax cuts

Presidency of Barack Obama

Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican nominee John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. Four years later, in the 2012 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee Mitt Romney to win re-election. Obama is the first African American president, the first multiracial president, the first non-white president, and the first president born in Hawaii.

Tea Party movement

The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit through decreased government spending. The movement supported small-government principles and opposed government-sponsored universal healthcare. The Tea Party movement has been described as both a popular constitutional movement and as an "astroturf movement" purporting to be spontaneous and grassroots, but created by hidden elite interests.