Alternative Minimum Tax

The original purpose of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) was to ensure that the wealthiest taxpayers pay their fair share in taxes.  However, unlike the regular income tax, the AMT was never indexed for inflation.  As incomes rise with inflation and, as in recent years, taxes are cut, more and more middle-class Americans, including fire fighters, are subject to the AMT. 

In recent years, Congress has passed temporary fixes to shield most middle-class Americans from the AMT, and the current Congress is expected to consider legislation to reform the AMT. 

The IAFF is actively involved in this debate.  On March 22, Michael Day, president of Baltimore County MD L1311, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee that the AMT could hit fire fighters hard with a tax increase next year if Congress fails to protect them from it.  To read more, click here.  To read Day's full testimony, click here.

After months of heated debate in Congress on the length of an AMT fix and whether or not its cost should be offset, the House and Senate passed a one-year AMT fix without offsets to prevent the AMT from hitting an estimated 23 million families in 2007.  However, Democratic leaders have recently suggested paying for the 2007 AMT fix retroactively in 2008.

Despite this one-year reprieve for 2007, the AMT still requires serious, long-term reform to prevent millions of middle-class taxpayers from paying more than their fair share of taxes in 2008 and beyond.

For more information about the Alternative Minimum Tax, click here:  Fact Sheet  

Learn more about how the Alternative Minimum Tax affects our nation's fire fighters:  Key Points