WASHINGTON,
September 29, 2010
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Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) today sent a bipartisan letter to Rep. Sander Levin, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, requesting that relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) be included in any tax legislation considered by the House of Representatives before the end of the year. Twenty-six of Rep. Garrett’s colleagues in the House joined him in signing the letter.
“Americans literally cannot afford to wait any longer for AMT relief. If nothing is done this year, 27 million American taxpayers – six times the amount in 2009 – will be affected by the AMT,” said Garrett after sending the letter to Rep. Levin. “As Congress considers ways to extend the tax rates set to expire at the end of the year, I would hope that AMT relief is included in the final package. Part of the reason Americans are so pessimistic about their financial future right now is because they are uncertain how much they will be taxed from one year to the next. With American families struggling to make ends meat during the economic downturn, providing immediate AMT relief is the right thing to do.”
The complete text of the letter to Rep. Levin is below:
The Honorable Sander Levin
Chairman
Committee on Way and Means
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
September 29, 2010
Dear Chairman Levin,
Earlier this year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a report projecting the number of households that will be affected in 2010 if Congress fails to address the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The projections are quite startling. According to the report, while about 4.5 million taxpayers were affected by the AMT in 2009, “if nothing is changed this year, one in six taxpayers will be affected by the AMT [in 2010], paying on average an additional $3,900 in tax, and nearly every married taxpayer with income between $100,000 and $500,000 will owe some alternative tax.” Indeed, the total number of filers affected — 27 million taxpayers — is a six-fold increase over 2009.
Because of the particular tax preferences and exemptions disallowed under the AMT, people in certain demographics, such as large families and married couples will be particularly hard hit by this tax. Furthermore, because the AMT does not allow for a deduction of state and local taxes, residents of certain areas of the country will be disproportionately affected by the tax. For example, of the Congressional Districts most impacted by the AMT, 26 of the top 30 are in the New York metropolitan area or California.
As you are undoubtedly aware, while the AMT was originally created to be a backstop for the federal income tax that affected only a small number of high-income taxpayers, it was not indexed for inflation. In previous years, Congress has enacted short-term “patches” to reduce the impact of the AMT on the middle class. The most recent patch, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, expired at the end of 2009. As Congress debates whether to extend the current tax rates before the end of the year, we formally request that AMT relief be included in any tax legislation considered by the House of Representatives.
Sincerely,
Rep. Scott Garrett
Rep. James P. Moran
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen
Rep. Gary Miller
Rep. Brian Bilbray
Rep. Dan Burton
Rep. Pete Sessions
Rep. Eliot Engel
Rep. Joe Barton
Rep. Michael Turner
Rep. Niki Tsongas
Rep. John Culberson
Rep. John Campbell
Rep. Jason Chaffetz
Rep. Adam Putnam
Rep. Doug Lamborn
Rep. John Carter
Rep. Peter King
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart
Rep. Paul Broun
Rep. Frank Wolf
Rep. Joe Wilson
Rep. Bill Posey
Rep. Erik Paulsen
Rep. Todd Akin
Rep. Leonard Lance
Rep. Michele Bachmann
Cc: The Honorable Dave Camp
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