Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008

hmoroz — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:24:29 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Number of taxpayers subject to the alternative minimum tax in 1970: 20,000

Number of taxpayers projected to be subject to the alternative minimum tax in 2010, absent changes in current law: 33 million

Number of taxpayers subject to the alternative minimum tax in 2007, after Congress passed a temporary alternative minimum tax patch: 4.1 million

Amount of lost revenue by 2018 that would result from repealing the alternative minimum tax, assuming the 2001-2006 tax cuts expire: $960 billion

Percentage of the benefits of repeal that would go to households with income above $100,000 in 2009: 90

Average compensation paid to the 25 individual hedge-fund managers with the highest earnings in 2006: $570,000,000

Approximate loss of revenue to the U.S. Treasury in 2006 alone from taxing the carried interest of these 25 fund managers as capital gains: $1,995,000,000

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports. The Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act ensures that middle-class Americans are not overwhelmed by a tax that they were never intended to pay. An increase in tax payments for more than 25 million American homes – exposing fully 46% of households with incomes between $75,000 and $100,000 to the AMT – would be disastrous for families already reeling from home foreclosures, high gas prices, and nearly stagnant wages. The bill’s revenue-raising tax hikes target the appropriate group: extraordinarily wealthy hedge fund and private equity managers and corporations that have exploited loopholes in the tax code to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Tax Topics: Individual Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), from the Tax Policy Center

The Taxation of Carried Interest, Testimony before the Finance Committee of the U.S. Senate

"Tax breaks for billionaires," from the Economic Policy Institute

Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003

atraub — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:13:12 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Opposes

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage of the President’s 2003 tax cuts that went to the top 1% income earners: 40 percent
Average tax cut received by Americans with incomes of $1.4 million and up: $81,000
Average tax cut received by middle-class Americans with incomes of $35,000: $800

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Opposes: The Jobs and Growth Tax Act of 2003, enacted in May 2003, was initially portrayed as a tax cut for struggling working-class Americans, but has translated into a law favoring the rich at the expense of everyone else. While middle-class Americans with incomes of $35,000 enjoyed a tax savings of roughly $800 as a result of this law, according to the Economic Policy Institute, those with incomes above $1.4 million received a tax cut of $81,000–more than 100 times as much. In fact, over the next four years, the top one percent of income earners will receive almost 40 percent of the total tax relief from this legislation, while the bottom 60 percent of taxpayers will receive just nine percent. This law provides neither the economic support required by middle-class American families struggling with soaring fixed costs, debt, and unemployment, nor the surge in consumer spending required to stimulate the sagging economy because less than 10 percent of its benefits go to those most likely to spend it.

Capital gains taxes

Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources