The Expanding Reach of the Individual Alternative Minimum Tax

The Expanding Reach of the Individual Alternative Minimum Tax focuses on both the original minimum tax and its successor, the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT). 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 2010, repealing the AMT will cost more than repealing the regular income tax. This report updates an article originally published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives to reflect tax laws passes in 2003 and 2004 and the latest economic projections.