Senate plan lets higher income earners share rebates

CAPITOL HILL (AP) — An effort to include more high-income families in a broad tax rebate is gaining support in the Senate.

The provision would make people who make up to $150,000 a year and couples who make up to $300,000 a year eligible for rebates of $500 to $1,000. Families would also get $300 for each child.

Senator Charles Grassley, a senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, supports the provision. It’s part of a bill introduced by committee chairman Max Baucus.

Baucus’s original proposal included tax rebates for even the richest taxpayers. He said that would attract Republican support for the bill.

A version of the bill passed by the House limits tax rebates to individuals making up to $75,000 a year and couples making up to $150,000 a year.

The House and the White House have urged the Senate to simply pass the House version of the bill.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)