Subject: Repeal the AMT! Comment: Thank you! The Alternative Minimum Tax should be abolished or modified from its current implementation so that it accomplishes its original goal. In the 1040 publication it says that the AMT was designed to force high end taxpayers to pay their fair share. It states that it is designed for those who pay less tax than they should through special kinds of income or loopholes. My husband and I have always paid our fair share and never complained about it. We don’t have Schedule A deductions other than taxes and charity. We have no capital gains declared nor do we have declared income other than that from our jobs and a saving account. Yet for two years we have lost a substantial portion of the few deductions we have due to AMT. We will have 3 children in college next year . We will pay about $70,000 next year alone in college costs (please keep in mind that you have to earn almost $120,000 to have $70,000 after tax). My husband and I are both educated and work extremely hard to be in a position to pay for our kid’s college. We will probably have to take some loans to cover a portion of the costs after next year. I just found out that under the rules governing AMT, we can’t deduct the interest from a home equity loan used for education. Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn’t be better off to quit my job, get financial aid from colleges, be able to take the tuition deductions for what we do have to pay, and stop paying AMT. I doubt that is the taxpayer sentiment that the federal government is trying to achieve. In its current form AMT represents the federal tax system at its worst. It is deceptive to publicize the current tax rates as those that citizens are going to pay when in fact the “real” rates are much higher. Please repeal the AMT! Sincerely, Kathy Baker 181 Hilltop Drive Portsmouth, RI 02871 |