FACTBOX: Details of economic stimulus package

Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:23pm EST
 
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(Reuters) - President George W. Bush and the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives have reached a deal on a fiscal package aimed at staving off a recession in the troubled U.S. economy.

Here are some details of the plan.

* The $150 billion plan is worth about 1 percent of U.S. economic output and would include tax rebates for individuals and families as well as incentives for business investment.

* Individuals would get rebates of up to $600 and married couples could get up to $1,200, plus $300 per child, no limit. Individuals with annual incomes above $75,000 in adjusted gross income (AGI) or married couples making $150,000 in AGI would get less depending how high their incomes are above those thresholds. Democrats estimate some 117 million families will receive a check.

* The plan also includes a provision that Democrats had sought that would allow some low-income workers who do not earn enough money to owe income taxes to receive a check. Those who made at least $3,000 last year and paid no income taxes would be eligible for a check of up to $300 for individuals and $600 for couples.

* As an incentive to encourage business investment, firms would be able to immediately deduct 50 percent of the costs of purchases of new equipment.

* The House package includes raising the limits on "conforming mortgages" financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $729,750 from the current cap of $417,000 for one year. It would also indefinitely raise the limit on Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgages to that same level from $367,000. Such a move is expected to lower the interest rates on those high-cost loans.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Donna Smith, Caren Bohan, John Poirier and Patrick Rucker; Editing by Philip Barbara)

 

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