Title 2 › Chapter 20A— STATUTORY PAY-AS-YOU-GO › § 936
Requires that budget scorekeepers must change their estimates when new laws change four specific budget areas: Medicare payments for doctors (Payment for Physicians’ Services under section 1395w–4 of title 42), the Estate and Gift Tax, the alternative minimum tax (AMT), and many tax provisions from the EGTRRA and JGTRRA laws (with some exceptions listed below). This rule stays in effect through December 31, 2011. The EGTRRA/JGTRRA group does not include parts made permanent by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, later changes to the Estate and Gift Tax, changes to the AMT, or income tax rates that apply to individuals with adjusted gross income over $200,000 for singles and $250,000 for joint filers. The law sets how big the adjustment to estimates must be. For Medicare physician payments, the adjustment is the difference between projected spending under the payment rules scheduled on December 31, 2009 and what spending would have been if 2009 payment rates had stayed in place through December 31, 2014 and then the scheduled rules applied afterward. If the change covers a shorter time, the comparison is limited to that time. For the Estate and Gift Tax, the adjustment is the difference between projected revenues as scheduled on December 31, 2009 and what revenues would be if 2009 rates and exemption amounts had stayed in effect through December 31, 2011 (with exemptions indexed for inflation after 2009). For the AMT, the adjustment is the difference between projected revenues and what they would be if exemption amounts were changed so the number of AMT taxpayers would not exceed the number affected in tax year 2008 through December 31, 2011. For middle-class tax provisions from EGTRRA/JGTRRA (examples: lower tax brackets, child tax credit, marriage benefits, education and adoption credits, lower capital gains/dividend rates for taxpayers with AGI up to $200,000/$250,000, and some business expensing rules), the adjustment is the difference between scheduled revenue/outlays and making those provisions permanent; if the law only extends them for a shorter time, the comparison is limited to that time. Indexed amounts must use the cost-of-living adjustment rule that substitutes “calendar year 2008” for “calendar year 1992.” When estimating multiple income-tax changes, assume the AMT stayed as scheduled on December 31, 2009 and estimate items in the order they appear; when estimating AMT changes, assume the income-tax items were made permanent. All adjustments must include effects in every year they affect.
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2 U.S.C. § 936
Title 2 — The Congress
Last Updated
Apr 3, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60