Alternative Minimum Tax May Hit 23 Million

AP ^ | 2/16/6 | MARY DALRYMPLE

[SmithL]

WASHINGTON -- As House and Senate tax writers head into talks over $70 billion in tax cuts, new estimates show that the alternative minimum tax could hit 23 million individuals and families next year.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., asked the Joint Committee on Taxation to estimate the growth in a tax that increasingly threatens middle-income taxpayers. It originally was intended to prevent wealthy individuals from avoiding taxation.

Lawmakers in recent years have enacted temporary fixes to blunt the tax's impact.

Without such a fix, the committee's staff of tax experts who advise lawmakers estimated 23 million taxpayers could feel the hit in 2007. Preventing more taxpayers from paying the alternative minimum tax would cost more than $48 billion over the coming decade.

"There's no such thing as middle class tax relief if Congress doesn't address this looming tax bite," Kerry said. "We're talking about a $48 billion problem, but there's not one dime in the president's budget to fix it."

Treasury Department officials have estimated the number could be as high as 26 million.

President Bush, in the 2007 budget proposal just submitted to Congress, urged lawmakers to soften the blow. The alternative minimum tax should otherwise be addressed as part of an overall revision of federal tax laws, the Treasury Department said.

[SmithL]

And on and on it goes.

[xcamel]

careful.. another BS 500 post FairyTax thread might break out.

[MikefromOhio]

It won't hit me...thank God.....

[Horatio Gates]

Next year? AMT hit me this year. I was using Turbo Tax and was wondering what the heck is this Alternative Minimum Tax when it came up.

[soccer_maniac]

15,000+ pork projects need financing :)

[ssaftler]

"There's no such thing as middle class tax relief if Congress doesn't address this looming tax bite," Kerry said.

Holy $h!t, Batman. Ol' Horse-face is beginning to make sense!

"We're talking about a $48 billion problem, but there's not one dime in the president's budget to fix it."

Whew! He had me SERIOUSLY worried for a minute there.

[Conservative Firster]

More AMT Info: The tax report / By Bruce Bartlett / Oct 25, 2005

"According to a Treasury Department fact sheet prepared for the tax commission, revenues from the AMT are rising so rapidly that by the year 2013, it will raise more gross federal revenue than the regular income tax. However, this assumes that AMT income thresholds fall as scheduled and that existing tax credits can be applied against the AMT. Elimination of the tax credits would cause AMT revenues to exceed the income tax several years sooner."

[pabianice]

As House and Senate tax writers head into talks over $70 billion in tax cuts, new estimates show that the alternative minimum tax could hit 23 million individuals and families next year. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the wind-surfing Francophile who is living large on the one billion dollar fortune inherited by his wife, asked the Joint Committee on Taxation to estimate the growth in a tax that increasingly threatens middle-income taxpayers...

[hershey]

John Kerry won't be paying this. The missus holds the purse strings.

[jimbo123]

Got me, too. Stinks.

[Horatio Gates]

Misery enjoys company 8>)

I was pissed since I wound up owing almost $300 for 2004. I deferred extra income into my tax deferred retirement to avoid any problems for 2005 and then the AMT found me. Give me a frickin break.

[Pylot]

Kerry is bringing this up because as a percentage of tax payers it hits more dimocrat strong holds than it does republican strong holds. This is due to the concentration of high wage earners in crowded large metropolitan areas that make up many of the population centers that vote dimocrat.

What a hoot to hear Kerry warning about the need to decrease taxes!

Hopefully we fix this after more Dims are booted from office.

[ClaireSolt]

Well that's the class warfare for you. Tax the rich. Get used to it. And how does Kerry think they should pay for it. I supose there is only one choice. Tax the richer than rich.

[Straight Vermonter]

At about what income level does the AMT kick in?

[Pylot]

Or tax the "other than democrat" class!

[P-40]

"There's no such thing as middle class tax relief if Congress doesn't address this looming tax bite," Kerry said.


The AMT problem has been a topic of discussion for a good many decades now. I remember heated debate on fixing the law before it got really bad...in 1984. Perhaps Kerry missed the discussions?

[WOSG]

It's hit me for the last 3 years.

What happened was that Bush's wonderful tax cuts on dividends and cap gains that put the top rate to 15%, didnt get a similar offset in AMT, which is aiming to get everybody at 28%. The math is complicated because it isnt supposed to bite your 15% gains, but for some reason it does.

AMT is now the real income tax for millions of Americans. Including me.

[an amused spectator]

"There's no such thing as middle class tax relief if Congress doesn't address this looming tax bite," Kerry said. "We're talking about a $48 billion problem, but there's not one dime in the president's budget to fix it."

So why didn't the Donkeys take care of the problem in 1992 and 1993, when they controlled the House, the Senate and the presidency, John?

[goldstategop]

I love how John Kerry wants to cut taxes on the rich. Whatever happened to taxing those off-shore investments?? ;-)

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[an amused spectator]

You should read up on the history of the AMT. It's one of the reasons I'm not a Pubbie, BUT THE BIGGEST REASON I could NEVER vote for a Donkocrat.

Effing John Kerry. What an effing liar. Scum-sucking pustule of effeminate East Coast humanity.