Yes, I get it, but I dont consider us wealthy,actually we are not wealthy. We hardly have any actual wealth. I am beyond pissed that we have to pay it! We dont have those things that this was designed to catch, tax shelters, really high mortgage deductions, stock options, etc…
We are already paying an obscene amount in federal taxes, and Im beyond angry we have to pay more!
That is all, vent over!
AMT was originally designed to “capture” all those things you mentioned. Guess what? It got expanded down to including a bunch of the rest of us without those “high falutin’” tax shelters. You and my DH can get together and go scream down by a river for however that will help.
Yup, join the chorus. I cringe when I hear people railing against people who earn a higher salary and all their loopholes. Guess what, I don’t have these loopholes that magically lower my taxes. In fact I’m taxed as one with my business. I’m not living off a massive portfolio, I work for a living.
I pay it every year and am in a similar position. It’s frustrating!
Seriously! Ranting along with you . . .
I wish I had to pay AMT!
Seriously, Madison?
Really wealthy people don’t pay AMT. Their tax rate is high enough at the upper end.
Really wealthy people don’t pay AMT because the effect of long term capital gains on AMT are slim and none.
http://fairmark.com/general-taxation/alternative-minimum-tax/top-ten-things-cause-amt-liability/
^that’s an excellent article. Easy to follow.
Another one who pays AMT. Hate it. Really fries my behind.
DH and I can’t stand that we get caught by AMT. We, and the rest of you, were not the ones it was intended to tax.
I have been paying AMT for 20 years because of high local taxes on real estate and income. Yes, it’s a pain!
@dstark, Looking at that list, we still dont fall under any of those categories; our taxes arent exorbitant, no capital gains, plenty of medical but not enough to deduct, modest home so no high mortgage interest deduction.
It makes me angry. And yes, I know some folks will say, stop complaining, but for those of us in the middle we are getting hosed.
I don’t hate the AMT. I don’t think federal income raxes are that high. With retirement accounts, and health insurance premiums non taxable or deductible in most cases for example, tax rates over estimate what people actually pay. Some people think marginal rax rates are the actual tax rates. This is untrue.
The high taxed states subsidize the lower taxed states…that bugs me. California taxpayers get back about 78 cents on the dollar from what they pay to the federal government. Taxpayers from states that complain the most about government and taxes are leeches. 
Actually, it seems that, while the “regular” income tax brackets get adjusted for inflation, the AMT brackets do not (except for occasional one year “fixes”). Also, when it was first implemented, the regular income tax rates were much higher, but there were lots of deductions that super-rich people took advantage of (so AMT, with fewer deductions and credits, but lower rates, made them pay some income taxes). That is why the AMT, once a super-rich person’s tax, has crept down to the merely upper income, upper middle income, and even some middle income people.
Of course, when you look at it, the AMT has a flatter tax rate structure, but fewer deductions and credits than the regular income tax. I.e. it would come closer to the idealized “flat tax” that some politicians like to promote, if you dispense with calculating the “regular” income tax and just calculate the AMT. But it seems that no politician is suggesting to drop the “regular” income tax and have only the AMT (though the rates may need adjustment if revenue-neutrality is desired).
Eventually, perhaps almost everyone will be paying AMT. So we will get the “flatter tax”, but without the simplication of the tax forms and calculations.
@partyof5, do you live in a high tax state? Do you have a lot of dependants?
A high tax state includes high property taxes. This affects AMT.
@dstark, no Im in Ohio, and just 3 kids. My property taxes are fairly low considering what I get. Im in an excellent school district, we dont pay extra for yard waste, trash service etc.
@partyof5 Well…three kids are a lot these days.
I have three kids.
I don’t know why you are subject to AMT. Something is triggering the AMT.