Corporate tax cut hung up on overtime pay, international taxes
WASHINGTON (AP) March 23--- Senate Republican leaders tried Monday to sidestep a bruising debate over overtime pay as senators resumed work on a tax cut for American manufacturers.
The maneuver, if successful, would prevent Democrats from using a corporate tax cut to force election-year debates on such employment issues as overtime pay and the movement of American jobs overseas.
The tax cut carries urgently needed revisions to American tax laws aimed at ending European tariffs on some U.S. exports.
Efforts to move the changes through the House also face obstacles. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., told a group of corporate tax executives Monday that lobbyists working against changes to international tax rules had effectively stymied the bill, a spokeswoman said.
A group of about 25 Republicans have withheld their votes and want tax writers to drop any tax cuts benefiting American multinational corporations.
"The House is still counting heads to get to 218, and they're just not there yet," said Oren Penn, an international tax expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The corporate tax cut crafted in the Senate enjoys broad support, but it could be set aside if Republicans lose their bid later this week to block unrelated Democratic amendments.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., might turn to other matters, said aides speaking on condition of anonymity. Republicans, who hold a 51-vote majority in the Senate, need 60 votes to prevail.
On top on the Democrats' list of proposed changes is one that would block President Bush's proposed overtime pay rules in cases where workers now eligible for overtime pay lose the benefit.
"The Bush administration thought they could put these rules into effect quietly," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. "They got caught."
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said the Democrats' proposed changes turn an urgent bill "into a political football."
Until lawmakers eliminate a tax break for exporters, certain American exports from jewelry to agricultural goods face a 5 percent penalty tariff that ratchets up 1 percentage point each month over the next year.
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