While the spending portion of the economic stimulus bill up for a vote today in the House have attracted a lot of attention, there is also a hefty chunk of tax relief in the bill.

And there might be even more once the Senate gets through with its own version of this economic recovery plan.

What tells me that there is a lot we don't know about the tax part of this bill?  Well, the report on the tax provisions from the Ways and Means Committee is only 16 megabytes.

And there are only 90 pages of super legal verbiage in the actual text of the bill being voted on in the House on tax issues, covering all kinds of personal and business tax issues.

"The tax incentives included in the bill are intended to stem the economic downturn and return the economy to a path of growth and prosperity," states the Committee report.

I don't think many of my colleagues would have predicted this kind of tax package from Democrats and the Obama Administration, portions of which would have strong backing from Republicans if they were being voted on individually, rather than lumped in with all kinds of spending.

The main portion of the stimulus tax plan is President Obama's "Making Work Pay Credit."

The two year extra tax credit of $500 would go to single taxpayers who have an adjusted gross income of less than $75,000.  Married couples would get a $1,000 credit with income of less than $150,000.

This is what's been referred to as the "middle class" tax cut.  It costs $145 billion.

Also in the bill, a specific low income tax cut worth $5 billion, which expands the Earned Income Tax Credit.

There is also a temporary increase in the amount of the child-tax credit that is refundable, to the tune of $18 billion.

Also in the bill, some education tax provisions for individuals with higher income limits in terms of eligibility.

There are also a series of business tax provisions in this bill, like bonus depreciation, increased small business expensing, and a five year carryback of net operating losses, which I won't try to explain (because I will get it wrong and you will tell me) but a lot of business oriented types seem to like it.

The Chamber of Commerce says they want more, but if they could speak freely, they also would admit they are surprised by what's in this bill.

I won't try to do too much more on this - you can read hundreds of pages of tax jargon for yourself at http://www.rules.house.gov/111/CommJurRpt/111_wmrptfinal.pdf

There wasn't really a "Gucci Gulch" for the House stimulus bill - but there will be a lot of lobbyists looking to alter provisions dealing with taxes on the Senate floor.

And you know that someone is going to get something stuffed in this bill.