A "fiscal cliff" of massive tax hikes and drastic spending cuts in the US has been avoided at the eleventh hour.
The House of Representatives voted to approve a bill which averts tax increases for the middle classes - and the possibility of sending the country into recession.
The bill - which also stops massive spending cuts - was approved by 257 votes to 167 after being supported earlier by the Senate.
President Barack Obama welcomed the deal and said it was just one step in a broader effort to strengthen the economy.
He said: "Thanks to the votes of Republicans and Democrats in Congress I will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Americans while preventing tax hikes that could have sent the economy back into recession."
The vote came just hours before financial markets reopen following the New Year holiday.
Some House Republicans had wanted to amend the bill to incorporate more spending cuts, but they dropped the idea.
In the end, 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted in favour of the bill.
It marks a political triumph for President Obama, less than two months after he secured re-election while campaigning for higher taxes on the wealthy.
The legislation cleared the Senate hours after Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, veteran negotiators, sealed a deal.
The spending cuts and drastic tax increases which made up the so-called "fiscal cliff" came into effect at midnight on Monday when George W Bush-era tax cuts expired.
The deadline triggered tax increases of $536bn (£328bn) and spending cuts of $109bn (£67bn) from domestic and military programmes.
The compromise Senate deal extends the tax cuts for Americans earning under $400,000 (£246,000) - up from the $250,000 (£153,000) level Democrats had originally sought.
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