The US Senate Committee on Finance has released a summary of the provisions in the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA; H.R. 8) that was signed into law on 2 January 2013.

The Senate Committee summary includes a discussion of the provisions included in ATRA and the estimated revenue effects of each provision over a 10-year period relative to current US law and policy.

ATRA was enacted to avert the fiscal cliff that would have led to higher taxes on middle-class taxpayers due to the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts and other temporary tax relief on 31 December 2012.

The fiscal cliff also would have triggered automatic across-the-board spending reductions (known as a “sequestration”).

ATRA postpones the sequestration for two months.

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