A SIMPLE FIX

The Washington Post article “Middle Class Faces Quick Impact from Fiscal Cliff in Form of Alternative Minimum Tax” explains (highlight is mine) -

“Unless Congress acts by the end of the year, more than 26 million households will for the first time face the AMT, which threatens to tack $3,700, on average, onto taxpayers’ bills for the current tax year. Because those people have never paid the AMT, they have no idea they are in its crosshairs — put there by a broader stalemate over tax policy that has kept Congress from limiting the AMT’s reach.

Forget about the much-publicized tax hikes set to take effect for 2013 — if you have a couple of children and annual income over $75,000, chances are good that your taxes are on track to go up substantially for 2012.

Residents of high-cost urban areas, including Washington, would be hit hardest, with about 2 million households in Maryland, Virginia and the District in line to face the AMT for the first time, by official estimates.

Unlike most tax increases in the fiscal cliff, including the expiration of the George W. Bush-era income tax cuts, the AMT bill would come due almost immediately. And tax experts say it would be extremely disruptive to try to fix the AMT after the 2012 tax year closes Dec. 31.”

It appears that both the Democrats and the Republicans support extending the dreaded Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch –

“Lobbyists and aides in both parties say it is hard to imagine Congress letting the new year arrive without legislation to restrict the AMT.”

It seems easy to fix.  All the idiots in Congress have to do is draft a bill to do nothing more than extend the AMT patch through at least December 31, 2012.  Period.  And have it passed by both houses.  Simple.  It can be done in one or two days, and in time for the IRS to be able to adjust its software and “go to press” with the appropriate forms and instructions before year-end.

But of course the members of Congress are incompetent and ineffective idiots who have absolutely no concern for the American taxpayer.  So don’t hold your breath. 

TTFN