House Passes Bill To Protect Families From The Alternative Minimum Tax

(WASHINGTON, DC)–Today, Congressman Gregory W. Meeks joined the majority of his colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2007 (H.R. 3996) as amended by the Senate. This legislation provides tax relief to 23 million families who would otherwise pay higher taxes under the alternative minimum tax (AMT).

H.R. 3996 will extend AMT relief for one year and increases the AMT exemption amount to $66,250 for joint filers and $44,350 for individuals. The AMT originally was created to ensure that the wealthiest families paid some taxes. If Congress did not pass H.R. 3996 families across the country, including an estimated 28,018 residents in Southeast Queens would have been responsible for paying on average an additional $2,000 of taxes this year.

House Democrats passed two AMT bills this fall, H.R. 3996 and H.R. 4351 each of these bills provided AMT relief without adding to the national debt by closing tax loopholes for the wealthiest Americans. Senate Republicans were able to block both AMT bills and President Bush threatened to veto any bill that increases taxes for the wealthiest Americans.

“Although, my fellow Democratic colleagues and I would have liked to have passed a bill that adhered to pay-as-you-go budget rules, President Bush and Republican Senators blocked all Democratic efforts to pass a fiscally responsible bill,” stated Rep. Meeks. “At this time, it is more important to protect 23 million hardworking families including teachers and police officers from being hit by a tax provision never intended for them.”

Meeks continued, “For the filing year of 2005 the 6th Congressional District, the district I represent, only 6,606 families were affected by the AMT without the fix an additional 21,412 families will be subjected to the AMT for 2007 returns. Without this bill thousands of families in my district would be irresponsibly taxed because Senate Republicans and the President would rather give tax breaks to wealthy Americans.”

H.R. 3996 as amended passed in the House of Representatives with an overwhelming majority in favor of the bill (352-64).