WASHINGTON – Congress gave final approval Wednesday to a plan that will spare millions of middle-class taxpayers from paying higher taxes in the coming months. The White House welcomed the development and said President Bush would sign the bill.

The tax reprieve postpones for one year only the alternative minimum tax, a parallel tax system enacted in 1969 to prevent very wealthy investors from using deductions and tax shelters to avoid paying income tax altogether. The alternative tax has ensnared a growing number of middle-class Americans in recent years because the 1969 law was not indexed to inflation.Read More