Reid: AMT Fix A Given

The Alternative Minimum Tax is going to get patched, whether it’s part of the stimulus package or not, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today. A patch would reduce the AMT's impact on middle-income Americans.

“The AMT is going to be taken care of,” Reid said, according to Reuters. “We did it last year, we did it this year. It doesn’t have to be in the [stimulus] bill … We can either do it in this or we can do it later … we’re going to get it done.”

The House approved a $819 billion version of the stimulus bill that did not address the AMT. The bill received 244 votes from House Democrats and not a single vote from a Republican, the New York Times reported.

However, senators could bring a version to the floor Monday that includes an AMT provision. Sen. Charles Grassley has added it to the Finance Committee’s work on the legislation, according to the New York Times.

House Democrats and the administration have indicated they would accept a new version of the bill with an AMT patch, driving the cost of the stimulus package to nearly $900 billion. That would leave little room for any other proposals that senators of both parties are likely to seek and surpass an $850 billion limit that President Barack Obama set for Congress.

The NYSSCPA has proposed a plan for tax reform that would eliminate the need for the AMT patch. Past president David Lifson spoke to Forbes about the need for tax reform earlier this month.