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IRS ADDS 'AMT ASSISTANT' TO THEIR WEB SITE

January 04, 2006

From an IRS press release:

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is providing a new online tool to help individual taxpayers determine whether they are potentially subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT).

The AMT Assistant helps taxpayers determine whether or not they may be subject to the AMT by automating the AMT Worksheet of the 1040 Instructions, called the “Worksheet to See if You Should Fill in Form 6251 – Line 45.” IRS estimates most taxpayers can make entries and get an answer in five to 10 minutes using the new application.

Link: AMT Assistant

It looks like a useful tool, but you need to have much of your tax return already done to use it. You could just use numbers off of last year's return, but you might not like the answers.

Still, it requires a lot of detailed numbers. As a public service, we present the Tax Update Short Form AMT Assistant:

Are you a joint-filing couple living in a high-tax sate (like Iowa) with gross income in excess of $120,000 and have:

- More than two children, or
- Significant capital gain or dividend income, or
- Significant tax credits (like the energy credit), or
- Significant home equity debt?

Are you a joint-filing couple living in a high-tax state (like Iowa) with gross income in excess of $170,000 but less than $500,000?

Are you a single filer living in a high-tax state and have gross income in excess of $190,000 up to $400,000?

Do you have lots and lots of kids, at any income?

Do you have lots and lots of long-term capital gain or dividend income, regardless of what else you have?

Did you exercise incentive stock options, at any income level?

A "yes" to any of these questions makes you a likely candidate for AMT. Don't you feel special?

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