The AMT and politics

Citizens for Tax Justice released a report on the places where the Alternative Minimum Tax hits hardest and softest. The AMT seems likely to be altered in this congress in part because some of its chief sponsors have begun to realize how absurd the effects of this bolt on addition to the system actually affects tax fairness. The AMT was the creation of a group of lefties (and was supported by groups like the CTJ) to assure that rich folks did not avoid their "responsibilities." It creates a second tax schedule which ultimately disallows some deductions and other provisions from a taxpayer's return if, in the opinion of the lawmakers, that the poor schlep did not pay enough taxes. But the irony of this abomination is that it has constantly reached deeper and deeper into the tax paying public far below what anyone would recognize as "wealthy."

The irony of the list is for the most part the ones in the blue list (except for possibly Virginia) are blue states. Thus, the supporters of the AMT have foisted additional burden on those most likely to vote for blue candidates. Ironic isn't it? The reality here is that a tax system which sets a reasonable base and low rates will probably be the fairest of all systems. Indeed, a progressive tax system, that raises more revenue from the wealthy than the poor, (as the existing system does) is ultimately not that hard to construct - and we can get that goal without putting all the extra BS in the system like the AMT. But then that should only be a surprise to those who want to get the tax system to raise more than money.