Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 - TIPRA

George Dubbya Bush signed the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (TIPRA) into law, which...as the name suggests...is an edit on some pre-existing tax laws.

The bill was passed in response to impending expiration dates on tax changes from previous bills. Edits included keeping capital gains and dividend taxes low until at least 2010, as they were about to go up again. People cashing out on investments within the next five years were celebratin'.

The other big kicker in TIPRA was the extension of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) tax reduction. The AMT is a federal tax on certain people, corporations, estates, and trusts that have qualified for lower payments on the regular income tax.

While TIPRA prevented a spike in taxes in these areas, its critics at the time pointed out the growing federal budget deficit, and how TIPRA only benefited the relatively wealthy and corporations. It’s no surprise that TIPRA was largely passed along party lines, with Republicans saying "yay!" and Democrats saying "nay."