Ditch the AMT

While Congress fiddles with the Obama stimulus bill, including tax provisions, one thing they ought to include is repeal of the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax.) Congressional Democrats and Republicans both have long agreed that the AMT ought to be repealed but both have argued that repeal would cause too big a hole in the budget. Instead, each year Congress modifies the AMT to keep it from applying to more and more taxpayers.

Deficits are no longer a concern, apparently. The stimulus will amount to at least $825 billion and will include a lot of things that easily could be put off until later but are being considered now to stimulate the economy. Congress might as well do something useful, like repeal the AMT, with a part of the $825 billion.