Congress has floated a lot of proposals that make a up a bill to increase hiring — and give employers tax breaks for doing so. Figure on two of the proposals making it all the way through the process. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has signaled that the most likely proposals to be passed will be:
- A payroll tax holiday that would waive the 6.2% Social Security tax for any employer who hires a worker who has been out of a job for at least 60 days. In addition, the bill would provide a $1,000 income tax credit for every new employee retained for at least 52 weeks.
- A tax break that would allow businesses to write off up to $250,000 in capital investments in 2010 rather than depreciating the costs over time.
The cost of the total package, according to estimates released by Reid, would be about $15 billion over 10 years.
