RIVERWOODS, Ill., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- With the November 18 unveiling of the Senate's health care reform bill - the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - CCH has updated its Special Tax Briefing on the tax provisions of health care legislation, detailing differences between the Senate bill and the House version of health care reform - the Affordable Health Care for America Act. To read the new Briefing, click here.

"No matter which version prevails, or how the House and Senate versions are patched together in a conference committee, it is certain that if health care reform passes, the IRS will play a large role in broadening insurance coverage through tax incentives and penalties on the one hand, and on the other hand collecting new taxes to pay part of the costs," said CCH Principal Federal Tax Analyst Mark Luscombe, JD, LLM, CPA.

The Senate bill contains a tax on "Cadillac" insurance plans, with more generous benefits and higher premiums than typical plans, a tax on the cost of cosmetic surgery and a Medicare payroll surtax of 0.5 percent on wages over $200,000 for an individual, $250,000 for couples. The House bill contains none of these provisions, but imposes a new 4.5-percent surtax on incomes above $500,000 for single filers, $1,000,000 for joint filers and surviving spouses.

"At their core, the House and Senate bills are similar in attempting to broaden coverage, with individual and employer mandates. But there are dozens of differences between House and Senate tax provisions, some of them very fundamental. Assuming that health care reform passes in the Senate, a conference committee will have a lot of work just to iron out these tax issues on the way to a final bill," Luscombe said.

CCH Tax Briefings

To read the updated 2009 Health Care Reform Briefing, click here or go to CCHGroup.com/Legislation/Heathcare-Reform-Nov-19-2009.pdf. Timely analysis of other tax legislation can be found at CCH Tax Legislation Coverage.

About CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (CCHGroup.com) is a leading provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services. It has served tax, accounting and business professionals since 1913. Among its market-leading products are The ProSystem fx® Suite, CCH® TeamMate, CorpSystem®, CCH® IntelliConnect(TM), Accounting Research Manager® and the U.S. Master Tax Guide®. CCH is based in Riverwoods, Ill. Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company www.wolterskluwer.com.

SOURCE CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

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