WASHINGTON – It may not sound like it from the rhetoric, but both the House and Senate already have passed separate bills to delay big tax increases awaiting nearly every taxpayer next year if Congress and the White House can’t agree on a plan to avert the “fiscal cliff.”

The Democratic-controlled Senate passed a bill in July that would extend many of the expiring George W. Bush-era tax cuts for middle-income families, while letting taxes go up for individuals who make more than $200,000 and
marmarried couples making more than $250,000.

The Republican-led House passed a bill in August that would extend the tax cuts for just about everyone.