[20080122]RS22759_第110届国会的农业立法和税收.pdf

Order Code RS22759Updated January 22, 2008Farm Legislation and Taxes in the 110thCongressDavid L. BrumbaughSpecialist in Public FinanceGovernment and Finance DivisionSummaryOn July 27, 2007, the House passed its version of the omnibus 2007 farm bill (H.R.2419). The bills spending provisions are estimated to increase federal spending onagriculture policy above the baseline level allowed by the FY2008 budget resolution.In order to comply with House pay-as-you-go budget rules, the bill included severalrevenue-raising provisions, the bulk of which would be produced by a proposal torestrict the use of tax-treaty benefits by foreign firms not actually resident in a treatycountry. In October, the Senate Finance Committee approved S. 2242, a bill containinga number of agriculture-related tax provisions, but also containing energy andconservation measures along with a revenue-raising proposal designed to curtail taxshelters (codification of the “economic substance” doctrine). The Senate FinanceCommittee bill is estimated to be approximately “revenue neutral,” gaining as much newtax revenue as it loses. However, it also contains an optional new tax credit that isestimated to have the effect