Will the Amt affect only the wealthy or will everyone have to wait to file taxes?

Answer 1

file the day you get your W2 if you like

Answer 2

There are two parts to your question as I read it.

1. Will everyone have to wait to file their taxes.?
Because of the AMT issue the Director of the IRS has stated if Legislation is passed this week, they will delay the first day they accept tax returns to late January or First of March.
While many professional tax preparers and tax software companies claim you can still start your tax return on January 2nd, FILING is going to be delayed for individuals.

2. Will the AMT affect only the wealthy?
Without a fix for AMT it will affect many individuals in middle income bracket, not just the wealthy. It was originally enacted to affect about 40,000 wealthy tax payers, but without a fix it will affect 23.4 million American Tax payers.
The problems resulted from the fact that AMT has not been adjusted/indexed for inflation and the fact that our Congress and Senate have not came up with legislation they can agree on concerning an AMT patch.
a.) If you didn't pay the AMT last year, you likely won't this year (assuming your tax position has not significantly changed.
b.)You may be affected if you fall under the AMT rules or claim certain credits, such as:
Child and Dependent Care,
Hope and Lifetime Learning,
Retirement Contribution Savings, and
Home Energy.
All these credits have income level phase outs.

Especially vulnerable are people with income over $75,000 and some large deductions-- Not what I would call wealthy.

Answer 3

You'll be able to file, but he IRS won't necessarily process the returns as soon as they get them.

Once the AMT is patched, there should be no delays if you file a 1040EZ (single or married).

Since it takes very little income for a MFS filer with a bunch of dependents to trigger AMT ($40K!), and that same MFS filer can use either the 1040A or the 1040 return to file, all of those tax returns will have to wait while the software is reprogrammed. The IRS announced it would take 7-10 weeks to recode...which takes us up to March 1st.

Answer 4

That is unknown as of now. The report issued a week or so ago by the IRS oversight committee was leaning somewhat toward delaying the processing of all returns.

That was due to the nature of the IRS' computer systems. It is designed to be programmed to handle all returns, and simply might not be able to function properly if only non-AMT returns are entered while reprogramming is being done.

Answer 5

Those who are under the AMT income level were never affected in terms of their ability to file as they would normally file.

Answer 6

Alternative Minimum Tax will hurt many two income families than most realize.
the working poor and lower middle class will not be affected.
any one with a trade or middle profession will feel the BITE.