NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - After months of heated debate, bluster and predictions of a done deal on the horizon, lawmakers still haven't signed off on a final tax bill. There is, however, a fair chance that a final deal could be announced this week.

In the meantime, tax writers have agreed in principle on the key elements for the bill.

The upshot for individuals: lawmakers would extend the reduced rate on capital gains and dividends and provide greater relief from the alternative minimum tax (AMT).

They also are likely to include a temporary but controversial provision that will make Roth IRAs available to taxpayers at all income levels.

With the exception of some popular provisions like AMT relief, many elements haven't satisfied critics, who contend many of the tax breaks are far too costly and benefit too few taxpayers – namely, upper-income ones.

They also object to the loss of an extension for tuition deduction, which they say could have been paid for if revenue-raising provisions that would have reduced tax breaks for oil companies had been left in. But the tuition deduction may be included in a separate piece of tax legislation, the elements of which are still a source of contention among negotiators and have been holding up the process of moving the big reconciliation bill to the floor for a vote.

Here is a summary of what are expected to be some of the bill's provisions and how they'll affect your wallet:

The bill will extend for two years the 15 percent rate on long-term capital gains and dividends. For low-income taxpayers, that rate will be 0 percent. Currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2008, the reduced rates will run through 2010. After 2010, the rates are scheduled to revert to 20 percent for long-term capital gains (10 percent for those in the lowest tax bracket) and one's top income tax rate for dividends.

Proponents of the measure say the reduced rates put more money back in taxpayers' pockets and encourage investment, which in turn spurs job growth and other economic benefits, which can boost tax revenue.

Critics question the correlation between lower investment income rates and economic growth and say the reduced rates primarily benefit high-income taxpayers – since exposure to stocks for middle- and upper-middle income taxpayers tends to be through tax-deferred vehicles like 401(k)s.

The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, for instance, estimates that a taxpayer with an income between $50,000 and $75,000 would save $58 on his tax bill in 2009, or about 0.4 percent of what his total tax liability would have been if the rates weren't extended. But only 23 percent of that income group even have taxable investments -- the average tax cut they'd receive is $255, or about 2 percent of their tax liability.

By contrast, a taxpayer with income of $1 million or more would save $32,111, or about 3.3 percent of what his tax liability would have been. If you just count those with taxable investments in that income group – 81 percent -- the average tax cut they'd receive is $39,448, or about 4 percent of their tax liability.

For those with sizeable dividends in a taxable portfolio, the savings can be impressive. Say you have a $300,000 portfolio of stocks and mutual funds, where the average dividend yield is 1.8 percent. Your annual dividends would total $5,400 and you'd owe $810 in income tax on them (15% x $5,400). If the reduced rate weren't extended and you're in the 28 percent tax bracket, you'd owe another $702 for a total of $1,512 (28% x $5,400).

Lawmakers will increase for tax year 2006 the AMT income exemption levels that were in effect for 2005. The new exemption levels will be $42,500 for single filers (up from $40,450) and $62,550 joint filers (up from $58,000).

In addition, when calculating whether they're subject to AMT, taxpayers will be allowed to use all nonrefundable personal credits to offset AMT liability. Normally, these credits often end up being disallowed under AMT.

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the provision agreed to by lawmakers will prevent an additional 15 million taxpayers from falling prey to the AMT in 2006. The Tax Policy Center estimates show the majority would come from households with income between $100,000 and $500,000.

The AMT imposes a higher bill on taxpayers than the regular tax code.

The alternative minimum tax, originally intended for the wealthy, now threatens to catch tens of millions of middle-class taxpayers unless lawmakers continue to increase in the AMT income exemption levels, since the original levels were never adjusted for inflation.

In order to keep the final reconciliation package under its $70 billion spending limit, lawmakers are adding revenue raisers into the bill as well. The most controversial is one temporarily allowing all taxpayers, not just those with modified adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less, to convert their traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs.

Proponents of the measure say it will raise revenue since IRA holders must pay taxes on their accounts when they make the conversion. Unlike the current rules, taxpayers who choose to convert under the temporary provision would be allowed to spread out their tax payments over a couple of years.

But critics say that long-term the provision will be a revenue loser. Using estimates from the bipartisanJoint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities called the move "a gimmick" since it would raise revenue in the first four years but then create revenue losses for six years after that. The implementation of the provision could be timed such that the revenue losses would occur after the period measured by the JCT.

Under reconciliation protection -- which means the bill cannot be subject to filibuster and only needs a simple majority of votes in the Senate to pass -- the tax package is not allowed to increase the deficit after 2010.