Bill > S3420

This bill, the Permanent Tax Relief Act, makes several significant changes to tax law. It permanently extends tax cuts originally enacted in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and certain provisions from the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 that lowered taxes on dividends and capital gains. The bill also makes permanent the increased exemption amount for the alternative minimum tax (AMT), a tax designed to ensure that higher-income individuals pay at least a minimum amount of tax, and allows certain nonrefundable personal tax credits to offset the AMT. Furthermore, it repeals the estate tax, which is a tax on the transfer of a deceased person's assets, and the generation-skipping transfer tax, which applies to transfers to beneficiaries two or more generations younger than the donor. The maximum gift tax rate, a tax on the transfer of assets during one's lifetime, is reduced to 35%, and individuals are allowed a lifetime exemption of $5 million for gifts.