Alternative Minimum Tax Time for an update

I agree with Representative Bono’s comment that the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) needs to be changed. The tax was originally designed to force taxpayers that receive large amounts of money and do not pay any income tax to pay a minimum amount of tax. It now has become a burden on many low income taxpayers because the AMT tax has not been indexed for inflation.

As an example, before the AMT went into effect a taxpayer could have received millions of tax free income from tax free municipal bonds or from tax avoidance schemes and pay no income tax whereas someone working at a job and receiving a 1040 tax statement must pay tax on small amounts of income.

Bono’s solution is to return to the old system of not taxing individuals that receive large amounts of tax free income. This is typical of the Republican Party’s philosophy of allowing the rich escape the tax burden and transferring it to the middle class.

The AMT should be retained in its original form and indexed for inflation. In fact, I would go even further and support legislation that would tax all sources of income above a minimum amount. Income is income no matter where it comes from.