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Donna Edwards on Tax Reform
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Voted YES on extending AMT exemptions to avoid hitting middle-income.
Congressional Summary: Amends the Internal Revenue Code to:- increase and extend through 2008 the alternative minimum tax (AMT) exemption amounts;
- extend through 2008 the offset of personal tax credits against AMT tax liabilities;
- treat net income and loss from an investment services partnership interest as ordinary income and loss;
- deny major integrated oil companies a tax deduction for income attributable to domestic production of oil or gas.
Wikipedia.com Explanation: The AMT became operative in 1970. It was intended to target 155 high-income households that had been eligible for so many tax benefits that they owed little or no income tax under the tax code of the time. However, when Ronald Reagan signed the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the AMT was greatly expanded to aim at a different set of deductions that most Americans receive. The AMT sets a minimum tax rate of 26% or 28% on some taxpayers so that they cannot use
certain types of deductions to lower their tax. By contrast, the rate for a corporation is 20%. Affected taxpayers are those who have what are known as "tax preference items". These include long-term capital gains, accelerated depreciation, & percentage depletion.
Because the AMT is not indexed to inflation, an increasing number of upper-middle-income taxpayers have been finding themselves subject to this tax. In 2006, an IRS report highlighted the AMT as the single most serious problem with the tax code.
For 2007, the AMT Exemption was not fully phased until [income reaches] $415,000 for joint returns. Within the $150,000 to $415,000 range, AMT liability typically increases as income increases above $150,000.
OnTheIssues.org Explanation: This vote extends the AMT exemption, and hence avoids the AMT affecting more upper-middle-income people. This vote has no permanent effect on the AMT, although voting YES implies that one would support the same permanent AMT change.
Reference: Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act;
Bill H.R.6275
; vote number 2008-455
on Jun 25, 2008
Minimum tax rate of 30% for those earning over $1 million.
Edwards co-sponsored Paying a Fair Share Act
Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012: - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require an individual taxpayer whose adjusted gross income exceeds $1 million to pay a minimum tax rate of 30% of the excess of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income over the taxpayer's modified charitable contribution deduction for the taxable year (tentative fair share tax).
- Establishes the amount of such tax as the excess of the tentative fair share tax over the excess of the sum of the taxpayer's regular tax liability, the alternative minimum tax (AMT) amount, and the payroll tax for the taxable year;
- Provides for a phase-in of such tax.
- Requires an inflation adjustment to the $1 million income threshold for taxable years beginning after 2013.
- Expresses the sense of the Senate that Congress should enact tax reform that repeals unfair and unnecessary tax loopholes and expenditures, simplifies the tax system, and makes sure that the wealthiest taxpayers pay a fair share of taxes.
Source: HR3903/S2230 12-HR3903 on Apr 16, 2012
Page last updated: Jun 26, 2017