Posted on 02/04/2012 9:37:56 AM PST by Qbert
From Mitt Romney to Warren Buffett, people are clamoring for fairer taxes. But thanks to yet another lapse by our lawmakers in Washington, more than 20 million taxpayers may pay a tax that was originally designed to hit only the ultra-rich -- and the increase could cost you as much as $8,000.
When it was first designed, the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, was meant to make taxes more fair. The idea behind the AMT was to make sure that rich people didn't use deductions to zero out their taxes every year.
Because of inflation, though, the AMT threatens to snare more taxpayers every year. So far, Congress has always acted to pass a "patch" to keep those additional millions of taxpayers from having to pay AMT.
In this election year, though, getting any tax law through the House and Senate will be tough. And If lawmakers don't act, the Congressional Budget Office says that the average tax increase will be $3,900, with some paying more than $8,000 extra.
The worst part of not knowing whether you'll have to pay AMT in 2012 is that if you don't have enough tax withheld from your paycheck, you could end up owing interest and penalties.
What to Do
To be safe, you should consider either raising your withholding or planning to make estimated tax payments, which are due starting in April.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailyfinance.com ...
“Obama is going to allow taxes to go up for “middle class” individuals...”
and claim the Republicans ‘mucked’ it up!
. . . which was the plan all along.
Reid: No, I don’t plan to bring a budget to the floor this year (Thanks for that, Nevada)
No new budget, no discussion of the lowered AMT threshold...
I think its time to do our sacred duty as Americans.
Good point.
I better hear the GOP nominee drill the fact into people’s heads during the campaign that taxes are going up drastically for many (not only the AMT, but everything else)...
I stopped paying taxes when Zero came into office...
But thank you for my continuing salary, and my pension contributions ' SUCKERS!
But thank you for my continuing salary, and my pension contributions ' SUCKERS!
Done and Done !
When congressed even suggested using a “deem it passed” technique, it was our duty to bring them down. No taxation without representation. From there, it’s been event after event that confirms the ruling elite have done nothing the people have wanted, and only serve their own agendas.
While not a reason to call for deaths (Or take to the streets to kill) I do think we should all pull our tax money from the machine. Put it in an interest-bearing account, and continue going through the tax motions - But no taxes paid until the constitution is restored.
As far as the escalation, We all keep our ears to the ground, listening for the train to come. I’m no different.
Yep.
R
MNEY
Uh... because Obama - aided and abetted by congress - is spending YOUR money like a drunken sailor on a 24 hour port call...
When the gates are all down and the signals are flashing,
The whistle is screaming in vain,
And you stay on the tracks, ignoring the facts,
Well you can’t blame the wreck on the train
The dirty secret behind Obama’s spending insanity is that even if they double taxes on “the rich”, it woudn’t pay for what he is spending. The only way to pay for Obama’s spending binge is a big tax hike on the MIDDLE CLASS. Period. That is it. Its pure snake oil to suggest we can have the level of spending we have without a huge middle and lower class tax hike.
You owe drunken sailors everywhere an apology.
They only spend their own money.
Speaking as a professional tax preparer, if you make more than $40k, have dependents and live in a high-tax state, you can be touched by AMT. Obviously, the more you are over $40k, the more you are endangered.
If you want to avoid penalties and interest for under-withholding, use your AGI (bottom of 1040), add back non-repeating adjustments, compute tax based upon your filing status from the tables and subtract your normal withholding from wages.
If that figure is close to zero, why give any more interest-free loan than you have to. If your withholding equals your 2011 tax burden [not refund or balance due, you fool], forget it for 2012 at least because you are ‘safe harbor’ed.
Otherwise divide by the 4 quarterly payments and feed the pig. AMT is a B*$%H and an obscenity to logic especially since it became a game for the politicians.
anytime you see fairness and legislation you know you are going to get screwed
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.