Congress Passes Temporary Fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax
In case you haven’t heard, Congress pushed through a one year stay of execution for millions of middle class tax payers that otherwise would’ve been snagged by the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Without this fix, the number of filers subject to the AMT in would’ve jumped from 4 million in 2006 to 25 million in 2007. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the fix: (1) is temporary, (2) adds roughly $50 billion to the federal deficit since it’s not being offset by increased taxes in other areas or decreased spending, and (3) will delay tax refunds for as many as 38 million filers because the action was taken so late in the year.
[Source: NY Times]
Published on December 20th, 2007 - 9 Comments
Filed under: Taxes
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
Related articles...
» More AMT Insights» What is the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)?
» Income Tax Breaks in the Bailout Bill
» The Buffett Tax: Re-Defining the AMT?
» Should You Skip Your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) in 2009?
» My First Encounter with the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
» Death and (No) Taxes: The 2010 Estate Tax Loophole
» Roth IRA Conversion Limits Going Away
Was this article useful? Please sign up to receive our content via e-mail:
9 Responses to “Congress Passes Temporary Fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax”
Leave a Reply
Top Cards by Category
Earn $200 Bonus Cash Back after you make $500 in purchases in your first 3 months. 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent in bonus categories each quarter.
Receive 10,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $500 in your first three months of card membership. Redeem bonus points for gift cards valued at $100. This is a charge card with no pre-set spending limit.
Receive 10,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $500 in your first three months of card membership. Redeem bonus points for gift cards valued at $100. This is a charge card with no pre-set spending limit.
Enjoy a 0% introductory rate for 18 months on Balance Transfers and 6 months on Purchases. Earn up to 5% cash back in categories that change.
Enjoy no balance transfer fee for a limited time. 0% introductory rate on Balance Transfers and Purchases. Earn up to 5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. Limitations apply*
Enjoy no balance transfer fee for a limited time. 0% introductory rate on Balance Transfers and Purchases. Earn up to 5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. Limitations apply*
Enjoy amenities for you and your business, like: complimentary airport club access, including American Airlines Admirals Club(R) lounges.
5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. Limitations apply*. Up to 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on everything else. No annual fee
Earn 3X points on airfare, 2X points on gas and groceries, and 1X points on everything else.
Reports to 3 major credit bureaus monthly and acceptance at millions of locations worldwide, including website purchases and reservations.
- How to Become a Millionaire
- How to Get Out of Debt
- The Best Dollars I've Ever Spent
- How Our Estate Plan is Structured
- How We Paid Our Mortgage In Less than 10 Years
- Money Making Ideas
- How to Manage Your Asset Allocation with Multiple Accounts
- Consumption Smoothing - Save While the Saving's Good
- How to Save on Groceries
- How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?
- Eleven Great Books About Money
- Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
- Dish Network Customer Service SUCKS
- $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Pay Off Mortgage Early or Invest?
- How to Claim the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Reduced Credit Limits? Share Your Experience
- $15,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Ethanol Blended Gas = Lower Mileage?
- Termite Control: Sentricon vs. Termidor
- How Much Should You Pay a Babysitter?
- Federal Income Tax Rates Went Down but Your Federal Tax Withholding Increased. Here's Why...
- Would the "Fair Tax" Gut the Economy?
How to save money on insurance
- Double-Check Your Ally CDs
- Stocks are Not Bonds, CDs, or Savings Accounts
- The Best Values in Colleges - 2012 Edition
- Five Myths About Renter's Insurance
- Own Your Investments, Rent Your Fun
- Citibank to Issue Credit Cards in China
- Heartstrings and Pursestrings
- Saving Money at the Grocery Store: Store Brand Pricing on the Rise
- Missing Tax Paperwork?
- Is Your Investment Allocation Right?

Tip It!
December 20th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Good to know, but what is the AMT?
December 20th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
It’s an antiquated parallel tax system that is designed to keep the uber-wealthy from paying to little in taxes. Unfortunately, it’s not tied to the inflation rate, so more and more middle class families are being caught by it. I’ll be writing more on this topic soon, so keep an eye out.
December 20th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Yes, and it hits those of us who live in high-tax states especially since for some reason AMT creators thought that only the rich take state income and property tax deductions. Also those who have lots of kids since only the uber-wealthy take exemptions for kids…
December 20th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
::sigh:: If they would just index things like this to inflation when they start…
December 20th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Kitty: Tell me about it… We have four kids, and we’ve also experienced an uptick in income, so I’m a bit nervous. But at least we’re not in a high income tax state.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Ryan: You’re exactly right. If this was indexed to inflation, nobody would be sweating it right now (except those for whom it’s intended).
December 20th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
It’s so funny that so many things weren’t tied to inflation, as if that concept is so new…
December 20th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Eh, it’s better than nothing…I’ll take it.
December 21st, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I’m not too familiar with AMT but if everyone is saying that the problem would be fixed by having it indexed to inflation, why isn’t the fix to just add all the years of inflation from 1969 from this point forward?