I never pay the AMT, so that means I already pay more than those with the same income as me. And they should be paying even less?
Yeah, that guy with six kids shouldn't get more deductions than you. And that retired guy who gets only dividend income on his portfolio should pay more than that fixed 15%.
That's the ticket. If the guy makes more, tax him until he has the same income as everyone else.
And while we're at it. If that guy doesn't make as much as others, give him some more until all are equal.
yitbos
Wrong. It means you didn't tickle the right triggers when filing your income tax. I wouldn't have been hit by AMT if I hadn't claimed the my property taxes and minimal home mortgage interest on my investment/rental. I've been hit the last two years. $740 the first time. $940 the next time. My deductions are declared "single, 0". My wife does the same and has extra taken out to compensate for the "marriage penalty". I also lost my oldest son as a dependent.
The avowed purpose of the AMT was to make sure nobody got away with paying nothing in income taxes.
Does it actually do that ? Heck no ! There are tens of millions of people with low incomes that get away with paying nothing for the spending programs they blithely vote for.
Rather than trying to eliminate the AMT, I’d rather it be rewritten as a TRUE minimum tax that hits EVERYBODY. It would give people a reason to really think about how much government is costing them.
If everybody had to pay the LARGER of a 10% AMT on ALL INCOME with NO DEDUCTIONS, or their personal income tax calculated the normal way, we would finally see a tax revolt and government spending fall.
The current situation, where 50% of the people are paying only 3% of taxes, cannot continue indefinitely.