Senator Gordon Smith: AMT tax to hit 20 Million Americans

From Senator Gordon Smith Press Release:

Sen. Smith: Don’t Raise Taxes on Oregon’s Families
Advocates for immediate action to prevent massive new tax on 20 million Americans

Washington, DC — Senator Gordon Smith today advocated for Congress to take immediate action to prevent upwards of 230,000 largely middle-income Oregon households from having to pay a major new tax. Senator Smith wants Congress to act before the end of 2007.

“Congress continues to hit the snooze button on reforming the Alternative Minimum Tax,” Smith said. “Oregon families are about to get thumped by this unfair and expensive tax. It is time to wake up and take action.”

This spring, Senator Smith was one of 44 Senators pushing to permanently repeal the AMT on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The legislation failed to move. Senator Smith has continued his efforts to repeal the AMT.

The Alternative Minimum Tax was enacted by Congress in 1969 to ensure that high-income Americans paid a fair share of taxes; that no taxpayer could avoid paying taxes by using exclusions, deductions or credits. Initially, the AMT applied to fewer than 20,000 higher-income taxpayers. The AMT was not indexed for inflation, and as a result, an increasing number of middle-income Americans are paying AMT. If Congress does not take action to correct or repeal the AMT before the end of 2007, upwards of 20 million middle-income households nationwide will be subject to the AMT.

Fast Facts on the AMT in Oregon

— In 2007, 230,000 additional tax filers, the great majority of which are middle income families, will be hit by the AMT that were not impacted last year
— Nearly 17% of all Oregonians tax filers will be hit by the tax if Congress doesn’t act — a 14% increase from 2005
— In 2005, less than 3% of Oregonians tax filers were subject to the AMT
— The current average additional cost of the AMT to tax filers is over $4,300

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