奥巴马总统今天签署了美国国会通过的$787 Billion 经济刺激计划。这项计划中，有若干对个人与家庭有关的免税项目.
新的免税
--大约一千一百六十亿美元，在2009年和2010年给400美元/工作的人， 800美元/夫妇的免税。从2009年6月开始，每个工作的人可以期待每周薪水少扣13美元的预扣税。美国数以百万计的工资不足够支付联邦所得税的人可在2009年填报税单，领取支票。收入超过$75,000 的个人与超过$150,000 的夫妇将获得减少的数额。
儿童减税
--约150亿美元，提供1000美元儿童免税给收入不足够支付联邦所得税的家庭。
大学生信用
--大约140亿美元，为2009年和2010年的大学学费和有关费用提供2500美元的免税，收入超过$160,000的夫妇除外。
购房信贷
--六十六点亿美元，用于撤销原定的在1月1日至11月30日期间首次购房者须逐步偿还$8,000购房免税的决定，除非房屋在购后三年内出售。
汽车销售
--17亿美元的销售税，提供给在本年底前买新汽车，轻型卡车，娱乐车和摩托车的人用于扣税。
国债限额提高
--法定的国家债务限额增加了$789 billion, 到 $12.1 trillion。
哇，吓人的数字啊。但愿美国经济能早日复苏。
Highlights of $787 Billion Stimulus Plan
Highlights of the $787 billion bill signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama. Additional debt costs would add about $330 billion over 10 years. Many provisions expire in two years.
------
Spending
AID TO POOR AND UNEMPLOYED
-- $40 billion to provide extended unemployment benefits through Dec. 31, and increase them by $25 a week; $20 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 14 percent; $4 billion for job training; $3 billion in temporary welfare payments.
DIRECT CASH PAYMENTS
-- $14.2 billion to give one-time $250 payments to Social Security recipients, poor people on Supplemental Security Income, and veterans receiving disability and pensions.
INFRASTRUCTURE
-- $48 billion for transportation projects, including $27.5 billion for highway and bridge construction and repair; $8.4 billion for mass transit; $8 billion for construction of high-speed railways and $1.3 billion for Amtrak; $4.6 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers; $4 billion for public housing improvements; $6 billion for clean and drinking water projects; $7.2 billion to bring broadband Internet service to underserved areas; $4.2 billion to repair and modernize Defense Department facilities.
HEALTH CARE
-- $24.7 billion to provide a 65 percent subsidy of health care insurance premiums for the unemployed under the COBRA program; $86.6 billion to help states with Medicaid; $19 billion to modernize health information technology systems; $10 billion for health research and construction of National Institutes of Health facilities; $1 billion for prevention and wellness programs.
STATE BLOCK GRANTS
-- $8.8 billion in aid to states to defray budget cuts.
ENERGY
-- About $50 billion for energy programs, focused chiefly on efficiency and renewable energy, including $5 billion to weatherize modest-income homes; $6.4 billion to clean up nuclear weapons production sites; $11 billion toward a so-called ''smart electricity grid'' to reduce waste; $6 billion to subsidize loans for renewable energy projects; $6.3 billion in state energy efficiency and clean energy grants; and $4.5 billion make federal buildings more energy efficient; $2 billion in grants for advanced batteries for electric vehicles.
EDUCATION
-- $44.5 billion in aid to local school districts to prevent layoffs and cutbacks, with flexibility to use the funds for school modernization and repair; $25.2 billion to school districts to fund special education and the No Child Left Behind law for students in K-12; $15.6 billion to boost the maximum Pell Grant by $500 to $5,350; $2 billion for Head Start.
HOUSING
--$4 billion to repair and make more energy efficient public housing projects; $2 billion for the redevelopment of foreclosed and abandoned homes; $1.5 billion for homeless shelters; $2 billion to pay off a looming shortfall in public housing accounts.
SCIENCE
-- $3 billion for the National Science Foundation for basic science and engineering research; $1 billion for NASA; $1.6 billion for research in areas such as climate science, biofuels, high-energy physics and nuclear physics.
HOMELAND SECURITY
-- $2.8 billion for homeland security programs, including $1 billion for airport screening equipment.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
-- $4 billion in grants to state and local law enforcement to hire officers and purchase equipment.
------
Taxes
NEW TAX CREDIT
-- About $116 billion for a $400 per-worker, $800 per-couple tax credits in 2009 and 2010. For the last half of 2009, workers could expect to see about $13 a week less withheld from their paychecks starting around June. Millions of Americans who don't make enough money to pay federal income taxes could file returns next year and receive checks. Individuals making more than $75,000 and couples making more than $150,000 would receive reduced amounts.
ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX
-- About $70 billion to spare about 24 million taxpayers from being hit with the alternative minimum tax in 2009. The change would save a family of four an average of $2,300. The tax was designed to make sure wealthy taxpayers can't use credits and deductions to avoid paying any taxes. But it was never indexed to inflation, so families making as little as $45,000 could get significant increases without the change. Congress addresses it each year, usually in the fall.
EXPANDED COLLEGE CREDIT
-- About $14 billion to provide a $2,500 expanded tax credit for college tuition and related expenses for 2009 and 2010. The credit is phased out for couples making more than $160,000.
CHILD TAX CREDIT
-- About $15 billion to provide the $1,000 child tax credit to more families that don't make enough money to pay income taxes.
EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT
-- $4.7 billion to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income families with three or more children.
HOMEBUYER CREDIT
-- $6.6 billion to repeal a requirement that a $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit be paid back over time for homes purchased from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, unless the home is sold within three years.
AUTO SALES
-- $1.7 billion to makes sales taxes on paid on new cars, light trucks, recreational vehicles and motorcycles tax deductible through the end of the year.
RENEWABLE ENERGY INCENTIVES
-- About 20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency over 10 years, including extending tax credits for energy produced from wind, geothermal, hydropower and landfill gas; grants to build renewable energy facilities; tax credits for purchases of energy-efficient furnaces, windows and doors, or insulation; tax credit for families that purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles.
BONUS DEPRECIATION
-- $5 billion to extend a provision allowing businesses buying equipment such as computers to speed up its depreciation through 2009.
REPEAL BANK CREDIT
-- Repeal a Treasury provision that allowed firms that buy money-losing banks to use more of the losses as tax credits to offset the profits of the merged banks for tax purposes. The change would increase taxes on the merged banks by $7 billion over 10 years.
------
Debt Limit
DEBT LIMIT INCREASE
--Increases the statutory limit on the national debt by $789 billion, to $12.1 trillion.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/02/17/washington/AP-Stimulus-Highlights.html
