December 19,2007

Congress Passes Alternative Minimum Tax Relief for America’s Working Families

House approves Baucus legislation saving 19 million from unfair tax increase

Washington, DC – Legislation authored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max
Baucus (D-Mont.) to protect 19 million American families from being hit by the
alternative minimum tax (AMT) will now become law. AMT was created in 1969 to
keep wealthy people from avoiding taxes altogether, but has started to hit working
families instead. The House of Representatives has passed the Senate-approved Baucus
measure allowing credits and increasing the exemptions taxpayers can claim to avoid
paying the AMT in 2007, which will prevent the “stealth tax” from applying to those who
didn’t pay it last year. The Baucus provision, which does not include offsets for the cost
of AMT relief this year, was approved after legislation containing cost offsets failed to
win sufficient votes.

“Congress saved 19 million American families from an unfair tax increase today.
This year, the long arm of the AMT won’t reach out and touch taxpayers who were
never meant to pay it,” Baucus said. “I would have preferred to offset the cost of
AMT relief, but moving ahead to protect taxpayers even at some cost was the right
thing to do. AMT relief was one of the most important tax tasks Congress needed to
tackle this year. Now I urge the IRS to move quickly to notify Americans of this tax
relief, and see that not one pays the AMT unnecessarily in the upcoming filing
season.”

The Finance Chairman is a proponent of full repeal of the alternative minimum tax, and
introduced legislation earlier this year to do so.

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