We want to keep you up-to-date on the stimulus plan. The hope is that the bill will be signed on Monday, February 16, but there is still a lot of work to do. A divided Senate passed its version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 10. The tax title of the Senate bill, like the version passed by the House on January 28, includes the Making Work Pay credit, enhancements to the child tax credit, taxpayer-friendly changes to many energy incentives, an extension of bonus depreciation and Code Section 179 expensing, a five-year NOL carryback, state and local government relief and more. Overall, the Senate bill contains more generous tax cuts than the House bill. The Senate bill also contains an AMT patch for 2009, temporary tax incentives for motor vehicle purchasers and new curbs on executive compensation. Lawmakers are now racing to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the stimulus plan before President Obama’s February 16 deadline.

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