So, I'm plodding along, following directions, filling out this worksheet and that and come across this Alt Min Tax thing. Whatever. My experience with that crap is usually that you spend 1/2 hr on it to save 2 bux. Not worth my time.
Years ago, I was pointing out to Brad and Max that most of the people I knew--single moms--didn't bother with EIC. They didn't know what it was and it gave them a headache looking at the forms. I used to do 5 people's income tax returns every year, just so they get that EIC --which saved my ass, let me tell you!
My dad used to make a tidy sum doing people frickin' EZ forms for $20 a pop.
What a racket.
At 10:16 PM 10/11/2004, alanjacobson wrote:
>Oh, AMT is not that complicated...
>
>You start with your regular taxable income
>plus or minus AMT adjustments
>plus tax preferences
>Thats your AMTI before AMT NOL deduction
>minus AMT NOL deduction (limited to 90%)
>Thats your alternative minimum taxable income
>minus exemption
>Thats your AMT base
>times your tax rate 26% up to $175,000, 28% over
>Thats your Tentative AMT before the AMT foreign tax credit
>minus the AMT foreign tax credit (possibly limited to 90%)
>Thats your Tentative Minimum Tax
>minus your regular income tax liability before credits minus regular foreign
>tax credit
>Thats your Alternative Minimum Tax, if the number is positive.
>
>Remember allowable deductions are different for AMT, no misc or 2% of base
>deductions, 10% base on medical not 7.5% of AGI, no standard deduction or
>personal exemptions (there is an AMT exemption of $24,500 to $49,000
>depending on your filing status. This gets phased out starting $75,000 to
>$150,000 depending on filing status at a rate of $1 for $4 of AMTI.
>
>Don't worry, rich people don't spend a New York minute on this stuff, they
>pay tax accountants to do that. Like Dubya says, taxing the rich won't work,
>they have accountants to get them out of it and he should know.
>
>Seriously, AMT is going to bite a lot of just plain folks in the butt over
>the next couple of years simply due to bracket inflation, in the
>neighborhood of 35 million taxpayers, and people are going to scream bloody
>murder about it. That will get Congress off the dime and tweak it back up to
>the higher income levels.
>
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