Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Alternative Minimum Tax Facts

Six Facts the IRS Wants You to Know about the Alternative Minimum Tax


The Alternative Minimum Tax attempts to ensure that anyone who benefits from certain tax advantages pays at least a minimum amount of tax. The AMT provides an alternative set of rules for calculating your income tax. In general, these rules should determine the minimum amount of tax that someone with your income should be required to pay. If your regular tax falls below this minimum, you have to make up the difference by paying alternative minimum tax.

Here are six facts the Internal Revenue Service wants you to know about the AMT and changes for 2010.

1. Tax laws provide tax benefits for certain kinds of income and allow special deductions and credits for certain expenses. These benefits can drastically reduce some taxpayers’ tax obligations. Congress created the AMT in 1969, targeting higher-income taxpayers who could claim so many deductions they owed little or no income tax.

2. Because the AMT is not indexed for inflation, a growing number of middle-income taxpayers are discovering they are subject to the AMT.

3. You may have to pay the AMT if your taxable income for regular tax purposes plus any adjustments and preference items that apply to you are more than the AMT exemption amount.

4. The AMT exemption amounts are set by law for each filing status.

5. For tax year 2010, Congress raised the AMT exemption amounts to the following levels:

• $72,450 for a married couple filing a joint return and qualifying widows and widowers;

• $47,450 for singles and heads of household;

• $36,225 for a married person filing separately.

6. The minimum AMT exemption amount for a child whose unearned income is taxed at the parents' tax rate has increased to $6,700 for 2010.

Use the IRS AMT Assistant to determine whether you may be subject to the AMT. Taxpayers can find more information about the Alternative Minimum Tax and how it impacts them by accessing IRS Form 6251, Alternative Minimum Tax —Individuals, and its instructions at http://www.irs.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Posting Some Humorous Sayings I Came Across

These are just some fun sayings for a quick smile. Sometimes we just need that!

○ Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

○ Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

○ "Knowledge" is knowing a tomato is a fruit - whereas "Wisdom" is not putting it in a fruit salad.

○ Evening news is where they begin with "Good Evening" - and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

○ To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

○ A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. My desk is a work station.

○ How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

○ Dolphins are so smart, that within a few weeks of captivity they can train people to stand on the edge of the pool and throw them fish.

○ I thought I wanted a career; turns out I just wanted a paycheck.

○ I saw a well endowed woman wearing a sweat shirt with the word "Guess" printed on it. So I said "implants?"

○ Why is it that someone will believe you when you say there are four billion stars in the sky - but must touch the wall when you say the paint is wet?

○ Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

○ You do not need a parachute to sky dive. You only need a parachute to sky dive again.

○ A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

○ Some people cause happiness wherever they go - while others cause happiness whenever they go.

○ I always take life with a grain of salt . . . plus a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila.

○ A bus is a vehicle that seems to move twice as fast when you are trying to catch it - than when you are actually riding in it.