WASHINGTON, D.C. - During a hearing today on the alternative minimum tax (AMT) in the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, a debate occurred on the impact of the “reserve fund for AMT" in the House Budget Resolution, which passed the Budget Committee last night. Subcommittee Chairman Richard Neal issued the following statement regarding the reserve:
“Any criticism of the House Budget Resolution’s reserve fund for fixing the AMT misses the point entirely. This fund, which is specifically created for AMT reform, provides the Budget Committee Chairman authority to adjust the allocations for the Ways and Means Committee to accommodate whatever AMT relief package we design - whether that is long-term reform I am advocating, or shorter-term relief as recommended in the Senate and White House budgets.
“By allowing the allocations to conform to our AMT package, the Resolution gives our Committee greater flexibility in designing AMT relief and, specifically, gives it a “green light" when it hits the floor so that it won’t be slowed by points of order. I don’t understand how anyone can argue that a one-year patch to protect 23 million AMT taxpayers in 2007 is better than a permanent solution providing relief to those same 23 million in 2007, and the 24 million in 2008, and the 26 million in 2009, and so on."
