The Treasury Department issued a state-by-state breakdown of ``advance payment checks'' that are to be mailed this year, indicating it expects to send out 91.6 million checks offering effective refunds of $39 billion on taxes paid last year.Thursday June 7, 11:40 am Eastern Time
Update 1-O'Neill says U.S. tax refunds coming soon
(UPDATE: adds details, O'Neill comments in by L.A. Times article.)
WASHINGTON, June 7 (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on Thursday that U.S. taxpayers soon will begin to reap benefits from a huge tax cut that should also give the economy a boost.
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In prepared remarks released as President George W. Bush signed a $1.35-trillion tax cut bill into law at a White House ceremony, O'Neill said the administration and Congress successfully ``overcame defeatist deadlock and delivered to the nation tax relief that is fair, friendly, fiscally sound and a second wind for our economy.''
O'Neill served as the administration's point-man in pushing Congress to approve the tax proposals that were a centerpiece of Bush's presidential campaign.
The Treasury Department issued a state-by-state breakdown of ``advance payment checks'' that are to be mailed this year, indicating it expects to send out 91.6 million checks offering effective refunds of $39 billion on taxes paid last year.
O'Neill said taxpayers would get the checks ``in the next few months.''
The Bush administration has promoted tax reduction as an effective antidote, along with lower interest rates introduced by the Federal Reserve, to a sluggish U.S. economy.
In an article written by O'Neill for Thursday's Los Angeles Times, the Treasury Secretary estimated that reduced taxation alone will add boost GDP, the broadest measure of national economic activity.
``I believe the immediate flow of revenue combined with the permanent reduction in income tax rates will boost gross domestic product growth by half a percentage point,'' O'Neill wrote, without specifying how soon the impact might be seen. |
