Working to Prevent Tax Increases for Millions

Op-Ed

Working to Prevent Tax Increases for Millions

Weekly Column by Congressman Doc Hastings

In December, Congress passed much needed legislation to protect millions of Americans from being unfairly hit by what is known as the Alternative Minimum Tax, or AMT.

The AMT was written into law decades ago to prevent a small number of wealthy taxpayers from avoiding paying taxes altogether. Back then, the tax affected only 155 of the super-rich. The AMT was never adjusted to match inflation. Therefore, the AMT is affecting more and more middle-income taxpayers each year. Without fixing the AMT problem, millions of taxpayers would have been hit by the AMT, costing the average taxpayer about $2,000.

When Republicans gained control of the Congress in the 1990s, we passed legislation to permanently protect American taxpayers from the unintended consequences of the AMT. Unfortunately, this measure was vetoed by President Clinton.

Despite calls throughout the year for Congress to resolve the AMT problem, Democrats waited until December to act in a bipartisan manner to fix the law. The Internal Revenue Service now estimates that as many as 20 million Americans will have their tax refunds delayed due to the late action. And Congress must address this issue again in 2008 because key Democrats in charge of tax policy insisted this fix to the AMT be temporary. The millions of Americans who must now wait longer to receive their tax refunds from the IRS are paying the price for this continued uncertainty about the tax code.

I encourage those who may be subject to a delayed tax refund to visit www.irs.gov for more about how to ensure that your refund is processed as quickly as possible.

Uncertainty in the tax code, however, is not limited to the AMT. Congress adjourned for 2007 without extending the state sales tax deduction, which expired December 31st. I'll continue my bipartisan efforts to ensure that Washingtonians can continue to deduct state sales tax from their federal tax responsibility.

Additionally, Congress must act to make tax relief enacted in 2001 and 2003 permanent. These tax policies have served our nation well - creating jobs, growing our economy, and leaving more money in the pocket of taxpayers. Failing to make this tax relief permanent means tax hikes for every American, the return of the death tax and the marriage penalty and a 50 percent cut in the child tax credit. The time to act is now.

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