This is a book review of Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes, by William H. Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins, published in the March 2005 Journal of Economic Literature.

Leonard Burman's testimony, submitted to the U.S. Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, focuses on both the original minimum tax and its successor, the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT). Both the minimum tax and the AMT have applied in the past to a small minority of high-income households. But barring a change in law, this "class tax" will soon be a "mass tax." By the end of the decade, repealing the AMT will cost more than repealing the regular income tax. The testimony updates an article originally published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives to reflect tax laws passed in 2003 and 2004 and the latest economic projections.

Leonard Burman's testimony, submitted to the U.S. Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, focuses on both the original minimum tax and its successor, the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT). Both the minimum tax and the AMT have applied in the past to a small minority of high-income households. But barring a change in law, this "class tax" will soon be a "mass tax." By the end of the decade, repealing the AMT will cost more than repealing the regular income tax. The testimony updates an article originally published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives to reflect tax laws passed in 2003 and 2004 and the latest economic projections.