AMT

The AMT is another controversial tax in the United States. AMT stands for Alternative Minimum Tax and was created by the United States Congress in 1969. Originally it was designed to ensure that high income earners who were at the time benefitting from too many tax shelters were subject to a tax rate considered to be more appropriate to their means.

However due to expanses to the alternative minimum tax over time, and the fact that they alternative minimum tax was never allowed to fluctuate based on inflation, the alternative minimum tax has begun to affect a larger share of the United States middle class worker and has therefore come under increased scrutiny.

This unintended consequence of the alternative minimum tax has led to problems within the federal tax system. Specifically it allows certain earners the ability to choose a different set of rules based on their needs. Basically it creates a parallel system of taxation that could begin to affect more taxpayers in a negative way, and disallowing some deductions.