US President Barack Obama has signed a bill that boosts taxes on the wealthiest Americans, while preserving tax cuts for most American households.
The bill averts a looming fiscal cliff that had threatened to plunge the nation back into recession.
It also extends expiring jobless benefits, prevents cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors and delays for two months billions of dollars in across-the-board spending cuts in defence and domestic programmes.
The Republican-run House approved the measure by a 257-167 vote late on Tuesday night, nearly 24 hours after the Democratic-led Senate passed it 89-8.
Obama, who is on holidays in Hawaii, signed the bill using an autopen, a mechanical device that copies his signature.
