Subject: Virginia Office Manager forced to tap my Mother's retirement savings to pre-pay $23K in ISO-AMT Comment: Dear Chairman Mack, My name is Melinda Utz. Several years ago, I was working as an office manager for F5 Networks in Seattle, WA. As part of my compensation, I was offered Incentive Stock Options. I had no idea that I could be taxed on stock that I never received a gain from. I also never imagined that the stock options might become a real income opportunity, they weren’t. I was instructed by my CPA to exercise the options as soon as I was able, so just as congress had intended, I would benefit from long- term capital gains. Later, at tax time, my CPA explained that I would have to pay Alternative Minimum Tax on stock that I simply held and never sold – I just couldn’t believe it! His only advice was: “Who can you borrow from?” Like most of us, I did not know anyone who had a spare $23,000 on hand ready for to borrow. So, I went to the bank and was turned down because I didn’t own a home and had an outstanding student loan. I then borrowed $5,000 from my mother, who took the money from her 401K and she is now paying penalties as a result. I got married and moved to Virginia where I now have two children. We enjoy photography and are members of the choir at the local United Methodist Church. We also run our own small business but feel drowned by our tax debt and the debt to my mother. I feel as though we may never get our heads above water financially. Every time I receive the monthly bill from the IRS, I become depressed and feel rather hopeless. I’ve never shorted the government in any manner but feel this is terribly unfair that I should be paying taxes (not to mention penalties and interest) on something I never gained. I fluctuate between anger, depression, hopelessness, and apathy during the course of a month. I’m writing letters and hoping that someone will make a difference to this unjust form of taxation. Won’t you please, advise the President and Secretary Snow to work with my Virginia Senators and my Congressman, the Honorable Eric Cantor to help quickly change this grossly unfair policy? Respectfully, Utz Family – Madison, VA MelindaUtz@aol.com |