House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, who's overseeing theHouse-Senate conference committee for tax negotiations, saidrepealing the corporate alternative minimum tax is “one of thepriorities” for the conference.

Sen. John Thune, the chamber's third-ranking Republican leader,said House and Senate representatives may meet Tuesday to discussthe issue. “There's a high level of interest” in minimizing themeasure's impact, said Thune, of South Dakota.

House lawmakers have concerns about the Senate's last-minutechange to preserve the corporate AMT at 20%, Brady said Tuesday.The move would “undermine the pro-growth provisions in that code,”he said. “This is one of those issues we're going to have toreconcile with the Senate.”

Preserving the corporate AMT would result inhigher-than-intended taxes for technology firms and othercorporations, tax experts say, and could imperil GOP promisesof business growth and more hiring.

Under current law, the corporate AMT serves as a kind ofinsurance policy designed to prevent companies from using variousbreaks to pay too little tax. Currently, companies must calculatetheir potential tax liability under the regular corporate incometax or the AMT, and pay whichever is higher. But because the Senatebill would also cut the regular corporate income tax rate to thesame 20% level as the AMT, many proposed deductions and creditswould lose their effect.

Also, the repeal of the individual mandate requirement that'spart of the 2010 Affordable Care Act—a feature of the Senate bill,but not the House legislation—is still under discussion, but islikely to have strong support among House Republicans, Bradysaid.

Other negotiations will center on the temporary nature of theindividual tax cuts in the Senate plan, with Brady acknowledging“we can't achieve permanency in everything.”

The House and Senate also have different plans for pass-throughbusinesses. The final solution will probably be a blend of thechambers' provisions, according to Brady.

The House and Senate do agree when it comes to repealingindividuals' state and local tax deductions—both would preserveonly a property-tax deduction capped at $10,000. Brady saidlawmakers are examining ways to make the legislation more favorableto high-tax states, but said he won't know how they address ituntil the talks are really under way.

From: Bloomberg News

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