Alternative Minimum Tax

President Barack Obama has signaled in this 2012 State of the Union address that his re-election campaign will be centered on class warfare.  Among the many ideas being floated in President Obama’s war on success is his desire to tax individuals earning $1 million or more at a minimum of 30% under his “Buffett rule“.  It should be noted that populist political gimmicks like this have been tried before; the results have been spectacular failures. There’s a saying, “Those who cannot remember...Read Full Story

ISBN13: 9781572484603 Condition: USED – VERY GOOD Notes: Product DescriptionEssentially, another way taxpayers are forced to calculate their taxes-the Alternative Minimum Tax increases your tax bill by reducing many of the exemptions, deductions and credits you may have taken when figuring your regular taxes. Originally designed as a way for the rich to be forced to pay taxes, the Alternative Minimum Tax now has a very real impact on individuals with even a modest income. The Alternative...Read Full Story

If our Congress had not taken action, millions more individuals would have been hammered with the dreaded alternative minimum tax (AMT). So the politicians put yet another one-year patch in place. As a result, if you did not owe the AMT for last year, you probably won’t owe it for this year either. The patch has two parts.First Part: Higher AMT Exemptions The first part of the patch grants expanded AMT exemption amounts for 2008. You subtract these exemptions from your income in arriving at...Read Full Story

Income that is earned from investments is a significant factor in the amount of Alternative Minimum Tax an individual pays. Certain types of investment income (dividends, capital gains, certain interest, e.g.) as well as the amount of this income in relation to the taxpayer’s other income, all factor into the AMT formula. A taxpayer usually has much more control over investment income than he does his salary, for example, making this source of income much more important from an Alternative...Read Full Story

From FOX News.com: Of all the tax issues facing Congress when it returns for a lame duck session after the Nov. 2 midterm elections, the annual rite of patching the Alternative Minimum Tax will be the most urgent. Unlike the debate over the Bush tax cuts, which will affect taxpayers' income in 2011, the AMT applies to 2010. And the delay in patching it is already causing problems and raising alarms for large numbers of middle-income taxpayers -- as many as 25 million Americans, according to...Read Full Story

AMT stands for Alternative Minimum Tax. The Alternative Minimum Tax was developed in 1969 to make sure that wealthy taxpayers didn't escape paying income taxes. The tax was meant to target high-income taxpayers who may have many deductions and can sometimes avoid paying any income taxes at all.Will I have to pay the AMT?You may be at risk for the AMT if you earn a high income, having more than one child, and you are married. You may not know if you will have to pay the alternative minimum tax...Read Full Story

It’s Christmas Week, But There are No Presents in Our Stockings from Congress The House has adjourned for the year, and the Senate is putting all of its energies into the massive health care reform effort. Left behind – far behind in fact – is any thought of relief for the 24 million taxpayers who will become subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax for the first time on January 1, nor for the significant increase in the amount of AMT paid by each of the four million-plus already enveloped by...Read Full Story

Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) – Part 2 An individual holding an Incentive Stock Option to acquire his employer’s stock, and considering taking advantage of this fall’s run-up in the price of that stock, needs to be planning for the potential Alternative Minimum Tax impact. Time is important – Dec. 31 is fast approaching, and after that it is too late to do any AMT planning for a 2009 ISO exercise. Why does an ISO exercise trigger the Alternative Minimum Tax? Let’s first summarize and compare...Read Full Story

Dos this occur when a significan portion of your annual earnings are from interest and dividends from non-taxable items. If 99% of my income is from my salary, do I need to worry about AMT? What is AMT (Alternative Minimum tax) and how do I know if it affects me?Can you explain AMT ( alternative minimum tax ) to me ? How does it work and who does it effect and why?What is the Alternative Minimum Tax?The alternative minimum tax (AMT)is killing me, any suggestions of the best ways to reduce...Read Full Story

One of every seven taxpayers subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax is paying it, at least in part, because of what is known in the tax law as a passive activity. A passive activity is the tax characterization of a certain type of investment, and it may be possible for a taxpayer to reduce his AMT by paying attention to the investments in his portfolio that are triggering this item. In general, a passive activity is either: 1) a trade or business in which the taxpayer did not materially...Read Full Story