Summit – “The time has definitely come for Congress to get rid of the Alternative Minimum Tax,” said Dr. P Kelly Hatfield, Republican candidate for Congress representing New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District. “There has not been a major revamping of the AMT system since 1986. At that time only one tenth of one percent of all filers had to pay the AMT but it is expected that within the next 2 years 39% of married couples with children in all income brackets will be subject to the tax.”

The AMT exemption amounts have not been indexed for inflation as the regular tax brackets are to prevent ‘bracket creep’ as wages rise. Congress has approved last minute temporary fixes each year for the last few years and without the fix in December of 2007 it has been estimated that more than 19 million taxpayers would have been subject to the AMT boosting their tax bills by an average of more than $2,000 each. However, the fixes or "patches" are not permanent and must be adjusted each year. 

“The AMT is now impacting many more taxpayers than originally intended,” Hatfield pointed out explaining that the system was formulated when a handful of high income earners were legally using deductions and tax breaks allowing them to pay much less than low-income people who had few deductions. If left in it’s current form tax experts have predicted that by 2010 the AMT will be impacting those earning between $75,000 and $100,000. “This is especially bad news for NJ residents,” she said noting that according to US Census Bureau Data a Median NJ Family Income in 2007 was just over $90,000 for a family of four.

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