from


(snip)"If no agreement is reached to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff at the end of this year, tens of millions of taxpayers would face a big, unexpected tax increase that would be payable immediately-by April 15, 2013-as they become subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT).

If that were to happen, it would create massive confusion during the January to April tax filing season. The IRS is not ready for the AMT to expire. About half of all taxpayers would be told not to file their taxes until late March at the earliest and refunds will be delayed by at least several weeks."(snip)

(snip)"This year, because of the presidential election and the looming fiscal cliff, no action has been taken on the patch, which means that taxpayers will become subject to the AMT under the original 1967 rules.

If nothing is done to address the AMT, 28 million new taxpayers will become subject to the AMT and will be hit with an unexpected tax bill for 2012 that will have to be paid by April 15, 2013.

Acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller said in a letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT, “If there is no AMT patch enacted by the end of the year, the IRS would be forced to operate the 2013 tax filing season based on the expiration of the AMT patch. There would be serious repercussions for taxpayers.”

Miller continued, “The changes to the AMT exemption amount and the special tax credit ordering rules could affect more than 60 million taxpayers – nearly half of all individual income tax filers [would have to fill out the AMT forms even if they did not owe any taxes under the AMT]. About 28 million taxpayers would be faced with a very large, unexpected tax liability for the current tax year (2012).”

According to The Washington Post, this would mean that”…more than 26 million households will for the first time face the AMT, which threatens to tack $3,700, on average, onto taxpayers’ bills for the current tax year.”'(snip)

(snip)'if no AMT patch is passed before December 31, 2012, Miller warned, “… in order to allow time for the IRS to make the programming changes necessary to conform our processing systems to reflect expiration of the AMT patch and the credit ordering rules, the IRS would, at minimum, need to instruct more than 60 million taxpayers that they may not file their tax returns or receive a refund until the IRS completes the necessary systems changes.”

So, not only would 28 million more American taxpayers owe another $3,700 in taxes, on average, they would not be able to file their returns until late March at the earliest, which would delay their much reduced refunds until May or June.'(snip)


And as NPR points out at

(snip)"Originally, the AMT was supposed to affect only the top taxpayers. These days, Congress "patches" it so that it hits around 5 million upper-middle-class households. Usually, those are families with children in high-cost states like New York and California.

This year, unless Congress applies a new patch, the AMT will apply to nearly half of people with incomes of $75,000 to $100,000. Without action, an estimated 27 million more tax filers could find themselves paying an average of $3,700 more in taxes for 2012.

And yes, the financial hit applies to this tax year."(snip)


Because the AMT 'mechanism' works by effectively disallowing tax exemptions and tax deductions, it disproportionately affects those who CLAIM lots of exemptions ( children ) and lots of deductions ( high state and local income taxes paid, high property taxes paid etc. ). And in the absence of a new AMT 'fix' being passed by the US congress, under existing AMT law, which has never been adjusted for inflation, the AMT 'bite' would extend down to those earning as little as $45,000 per year under certain circumstances. Thus, in the absence of a new AMT 'fixed' being passed by the US congress, a significant new tax 'bite' could affect not only the 2012 personal income taxes for dancers and camgirls, but also the 2012 personal income taxes - and April 2013 tax refund amounts - of a significant number of their customers.