Congress approves tax fix for millions

WASHINGTON (AP) - An eleventh-hour vote yesterday to put a one-year freeze on growth of the alternative minimum tax shields more than 20 million middle- and upper-middle income families from first exposure to a tax originally aimed at untaxed multimillionaires.

President George W. Bush plans to sign the bill into law.

But by waiting until the last day of the session, less than a week before Christmas, Congress left in question whether the Internal Revenue Service can adjust its forms in time for the 2008 filing season to begin in mid-January.

Delays in processing returns could put off refunds to millions of people needing the extra cash for holiday expenses.

IRS acting commissioner Linda Stiff said the agency would immediately begin reprogramming forms, a process the IRS has said could take about seven weeks.

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