Bush Urges House To Pass AMT Fix
President Bush has spoken out in support of the Senate's approval of legislation
designed to prevent many millions of additional US households from falling foul
of the the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) this year.
Designed to ensure America's wealthiest households contributed to tax revenue,
the AMT, which was created in 1969, failed to take inflation into account, meaning
that more middle class households are now being stung by the tax. In a radio address delivered on Friday, President Bush observed that: "The AMT was designed to ensure that the wealthy paid their fair share
of taxes. But when Congress passed the AMT decades ago, it was not indexed for
inflation. As a result, the AMT's higher tax burden is creeping up on more and
more middle-class families, and as many as 25 million Americans would be subject
to the AMT." He continued: "On average, these taxpayers would have to send an extra
$2,000 to the IRS next year. This is a huge tax increase that taxpayers do not
deserve and that Congress must stop." President Bush went on to state: "I urge the House of Representatives
to get the Senate-passed AMT relief bill to my desk before they adjourn so I
can sign it and protect millions of families from higher taxes and avert any
further delay in the tax refund checks next year." US Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson has also commented on the passage of the
legislation by the upper house, announcing following the vote that: "I thank the Senate for passing a bill that prevents 21 million Americans
from paying the Alternative Minimum Tax this year, and that does not raise other
taxes." "It is imperative that the House approve this and send it to the President
without delay. We are only weeks away from the time when taxpayers can typically
file their returns and will expect millions of dollars in refund checks quickly.
The longer it takes to put this AMT patch into the law, the greater the delay
in the filing season and those refunds." On Thursday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D-Mont.), won the
right to implement the legislation, which allows credits, and increases the
exemptions taxpayers can claim to avoid paying the AMT in 2007, which will prevent
the tax from applying to those who didn’t pay it last year. The amendment, which does not include offsets for the cost of AMT relief this
year, passed after a House bill containing offsets failed to win sufficient
votes, and after numerous minority objections before and after the Thanksgiving
recess to requests for various votes on the AMT. .
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