Amt

[JinCO]

Does anyone know of a good source to determine if one qualifies for alternative minimum tax? I have done an analysis to figure out my gross income, deductions and AGI will be for 2008. I've also calculated how much I will owe in taxes in April based on a non AMT calculation. If I will have to be forced to file under AMT, I'd like to know soon so that I build the additional required savings into my budget. Can I just plug my numbers into turbo tax to determine this or is there another tool out there that would help?

[jIM_Ohio]

TT would tell you what your AMT is- AMT is a required calculation for all tax payers.

The 2008 AMT patch was added to the bailout plan, so that issue is not there for this tax year.

[responduser]

I don't know any such tools. I really need to find one like that.

[aida2003]

The 2008 AMT patch was added to the bailout plan, so that issue is not there for this tax year.

Jim, can you clarify this sentence of yours. Does it mean the patch for 2008 passed and there's no issue with it anymore or do you imply that the patch wasn't and will not be issued for 2008, so many more people will be on the hook this year?

Thanks

[noppenbd]

AMT exemptions are not indexed to inflation so every year more and more people get hit with it. But indexing the AMT exemption to inflation would result in a huge reduction in future tax revenues for the government, so the political will has not been there for a permanent fix. Instead, Congress has been "patching" the AMT exemption by passing a law each year to compensate by inflation, but only for the current year. So without a patch each year, the exemption amount would revert back to the original amount, and affect a large number of people. The 2007 patch was not passed until very late (a few months before the 2007 filing deadline). However, the 2008 patch has already passed (as a rider on the bailout bill), so AMT should not hit many more people than last year. 2009 and onwards are still up in the air.

[jIM_Ohio]

what he said

one additional note- I think both candidates have suggested their tax reform would permanently modify AMT.

[MonkeyMama]

what he said

one additional note- I think both candidates have suggested their tax reform would permanently modify AMT.

No - neither candidates have said that. Kind of my pet peeve with both of them.

They both have proposed to leave AMT as is - with annual patches.