Alternative Minium Tax

I am going to see if Bernie will discuss the AMT topic on his show:


Here is a letter I sent to Harry Ried.
November 27, 2007

Dear Senator
I’m writing you tonight to express my extreme concern about potentially having to pay AMT. I just completed my 2007 estimated tax return, which I believe to be 98% accurate at this time. My calculations found with the current AMT exemption of ~45K, my husband and I would be required to a pay an alternative minimum tax bill in April of over $ 3,500.00

The thought of incurring this extra unexpected expenditure made me sick to my stomach. My husband and I are hard working, financially responsible individuals. We live in California and 5 years ago upon purchasing our home ignored others advice about taking out a “high risk” loan allowing us to move into a larger home. Instead, we took the responsible route and bought a small, very old home in a city that has a fairly high poverty and crime rate. I tell you this fact to highlight how this tax will impact a family that works hard to ensure we live within our means you’ll be able to imagine the larger impact to those Californians who are barely making it.

The impact of this tax to our family and spending would be huge. First, we’d not only owe the 3,500 but we’d also have to pay a penalty to the IRS of an unknown amount. As we don’t have that kind of cash lying around in the drawer, or the bank, we’ll have to pay it with credit causing us to minimally have a $300.00/month bill throughout all of 2008. Next, we’d have to adjust our withholdings for 2008 by $300.00/month.

These actions will effectively reduce our discretionary income by over $ 600.00/month or $ 7,200.00/year. I say more because the increased tax bill will cause both my husband and I to effectively negate any raises we receive in 2008 by increasing our 401(k) withholdings. Thus, we will have no additional income this year to help with the inflation and the huge increases we’ve been observing in gas, food, and clothing price.

If you actual take the time to read this letter and truly care, you WILL work with Congress to insure that my and the other millions of families do not fall victim to this tax. We as a family and we as a country can not afford this unexpected and sudden increase. Please remember that although this tax will hit my family and our spending hard, we are lucky in that we are not already in financial trouble with regards to our home. Millions of others I’m sad to say will not, and this tax will be the straw that breaks their and maybe the economies back.

Please act quickly to save my family and our country!!!

Best Regards,




PS:
For anyone wanted to hear Bernie you can listen live from 10-1 PT or listen to the acrhives at the following location:

http://www.kgoam810.com//Article.asp?id=503007