Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012

The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Pub.L. 112–96, H.R. 3630, 126 Stat. 156, enacted February 22, 2012), also known as the "payroll tax cut", was an Act of the United States Congress. The bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on February 17, 2012 by a vote of 293‑132, and by the Senate by a vote of 60‑36 on the same day. The bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 22, 2012.

The Act:

This bill was sponsored by Representative Dave Camp (R) of Michigan on December 9, 2011, at which time it was called the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011. The original bill passed the House 234-193 on December 13, 2011, and the Senate unanimously on December 17, 2011. On December 23, 2011, the House and Senate passed H.R. 3765, also called the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, and President Obama signed it the same day. The bill's effect was to extend lower payroll tax rates past December 31, 2011, when they would have expired.

The Social Security tax rate would have increased from 4.2% to 6.2%, had the bill not passed. The rate would have applied to the first $110,100 in income. However, under the Senate version of the bill, the temporary tax cut applied to only one-sixth of that income amount, or $18,350, since the income would have to be earned in the first two months of 2012. Under the House version, persons earning far more than $110,100 a year would have received the full benefit in the two months.

A conference committee resolved the differences between the House version and the Senate version on February 17, 2012, and the conference report was approved by the House and the Senate.

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