[2] After Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill expressed concerns over the tax cut's size and the possibility of future deficits, Vice President Cheney took charge of writing the bill, which the administration proposed to Congress in March 2001.

[3][4] The administration rejected the idea of "triggers" that would phase out the tax reductions should the government again run deficits.

[11] After a two-year extension by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, the Bush era rates for taxpayers making less than $400,000 per year ($450,000 for married couples) were ultimately made permanent by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.

The sunset provision allowed EGTRRA to sidestep the Byrd Rule, a Senate rule that amends the Congressional Budget Act to allow Senators to block a piece of legislation if it purports a significant increase in the federal deficit beyond ten years.

[13] EGTRRA generally reduced the rates of individual income taxes: The EGTRRA in many cases lowered the taxes on married couples filing jointly by increasing the standard deduction for joint filers to between 164% and 200% of the deduction for single filers.

Additionally, EGTRRA increased the per-child tax credit and the amount eligible for credit spent on dependent child care, phased out limits on itemized deductions and personal exemptions for higher income taxpayers, and increased the exemption for the Alternative Minimum Tax, and created a new depreciation deduction for qualified property owners.

EGTRRA introduced sweeping changes to retirement plans, incorporating many of the so-called Portman-Cardin provisions proposed by those House members in 2000 and earlier in 2001.

The so-called "catch-up" provision allows employees over the age of 50 to make additional contributions to their retirement plans over and above the normal limits.

For workers who are already retired, the law raises the age for minimum required distributions (MRDs), directing the Treasury to revise its life expectancy tables and simplify MRD rules.

It is an improvement upon the unpopular qualified voluntary employee contribution (QVEC) provision developed in the early 1980s.

Because EGTRRA was subject to a "sunset" provision, the estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes were automatically supposed to be reinstated in 2011.

After Republicans re-took control of the Senate during the 2002 mid-term elections, Bush proposed further tax cuts.