[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E783-E784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE TAX EQUITY PRESERVATION ACT OF 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. PHILIP M. CRANE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 27, 1999

  Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I introduced the Tax Equity 
Preservation Act of 1999, H.R. 1561, to repeal the Alternative Minimum 
Tax, the AMT, on individuals.
  The AMT must be one of the most perverse provisions found in the 
entire complex of the Internal Revenue Code. Like many of the taxes 
designed to make Americans pay their ``fair share'' to the government, 
the AMT is very inefficient and subjects taxpayers to a form of double 
jeopardy.
  Over the last few months as Americans prepared their 1998 tax 
returns, they faced an array of tax deductions, exclusions and 
exemptions which, depending on their circumstances, they could use to 
legitimately reduce their tax burden. For example, the Code includes 
personal and dependent deductions. In addition, Congress recently 
provided parents with a tax credit for each of their children to help 
with the cost of raising the kids. There are yet other tax credits 
available to help offset the cost of education such as HOPE 
Scholarships and Lifetime Learning credits. Taxpayers may also deduct 
their medical expenses when they exceed 7.5 percent of their income.
  More and more taxpayers are finding that, after they fill out their 
tax forms and take all their legitimate deductions and exclusions, 
Uncle Sam is telling them that they did not pay enough taxes. They must 
then start all over with a new stack of tax forms and compute their 
Alternative Minimum Tax. Unfortunately, many of the deductions, 
exemptions and credits available under the ordinary income tax are not 
available, or are reduced, under the AMT.
  For example, taxpayers subject to the AMT may not take personal and 
dependent exemptions. State and local taxes are exempt under the 
ordindary income tax, but not under the AMT. Tax credits for children 
and education credits cannot be used to reduce the AMT burden. Even the 
deductibility of medical costs is more restrictive under the AMT, with 
only expenses exceeding 10 percent of income eligible for deductions.
  Although designed to prevent ``rich'' taxpayers from avoiding taxes, 
becuase the AMT exemptions and deductions have not kept pace with 
inflation, more and more middle income taxpayers are falling victim to 
the AMT. The AMT exemption amounts are only $33,750 for single filers 
and $45,000 for married couples filing joint returns. Congress last 
updated these in 1993 and did not index them for inflation.
  The Tax Equity Preservation Act will relieve taxpayers from the 
burden of filling out two separate stacks of tax forms and paying 
higher taxes. Although we could help middle-income Americans by 
increasing the AMT exemptions and indexing them for inflation, that 
would only add more complexity to the Code. The better way to preserve 
tax equity is to simply abolish the AMT.
  I commend H.R. 1561, the Tax Equity Preservation Act of 1999, to the 
attention of my

[[Page E784]]

colleagues and ask them to join me in the effort to repeal the AMT on 
individuals by cosponsoring this bill.

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