Alternative Minimum Tax May Hit 23 Million

[ProSense]

Alternative Minimum Tax May Hit 23 Million

By MARY DALRYMPLE, AP Tax Writer
45 minutes ago

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."

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/ap_on_go_co/alternative_minimum_tax_1

[Warpy]

1. That was always their plan

Get the middle class to vote them into power over feel good tax cuts that amount to a few bucks for them and millions for the fat cats, then sock them with the AMT when they try to take all those new deductions. It's how they're ensuring that the middle class keeps paying the bulk of the taxes in this country while the rich get more and more of a free ride on their backs.

I've been telling people this stuff for five years, that the AMT was the hidden bait and switch tax hike that Stupid and his thieves were really going to give them. This is on top of all the increased taxes and fees that the states are charging because their Federal block grants were diminished by the windfall to the rich.

We have got to end this class warfare of treating the super rich like some sort of exalted and protected class. No rich guy ever gave you a job he didn't have a customer waiting for, and customers are becoming more scarce as wages fall and taxes and prices escalate.

[samdogmom]

2. Yeah! I'm one of 23 million! What a joke! I owe money because of this!

I'd never consider myself anything but middle-class. I'm angry because I owe $800+ and I don't want to flush this money down the Iraq toilet. I'd rather self-direct it to Katrina victims, homeless shelters, etc.--you get the picture. I'd like to help Americans here at home. I'm really having trouble writing this check because I know the money is going toward such a worthless cause. Grrrrrrr.....