Coalition for Tax Fairness Applauds the House of Representatives for Passing Relief for Families Affected by the AMT Treatment of Incentive Stock Options; Legislation Provides Hope for Hardworking Americans.

WASHINGTON -- The Coalition for Tax Fairness (CTF), an organization working to address the Incentive Stock Option Alternative Minimum Tax (ISO AMT) crisis, applauds the House of Representatives for passing legislation that will help provide relief for many workers suffering from unintended, severely disproportional AMT tax burdens. H.R. 3385 -- the basis for the legislation -- was introduced by Congressman Sam Johnson (R-TX) and co-sponsored by 62 bipartisan Representatives, including 15 Ways and Means Members. H.R. 3385 addressed the fair return of ISO AMT tax prepayments that have unintentionally become what Representative Johnson has termed, "interest-free loans to the government." The bill was included in H.R. 5970, which passed the House early this morning.

"The Coalition for Tax Fairness commends the House for passing legislation that will bring hope and relief to hundreds of thousands of American families," stated Tim Carlson, President of the Coalition for Tax Fairness. "We are especially grateful to Representative Sam Johnson for his sponsorship, the many bipartisan co-sponsors in the House, and to Chairman Bill Thomas, who together led the way in championing this relief legislation for their constituents and for all American workers. We are hopeful and optimistic that the Senate will also pass this important ISO AMT relief."

ISO AMT victims -- employees of small and large companies across America were, due to an unintended flaw in the tax code, forced to pay taxes up to and exceeding 300 percent of their annual salaries. These workers were liable for tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax prepayments on projected "income" they never received. The legislation just passed by the House provides relief by accelerating the refund of stranded ISO AMT overpayment credits that under current law would not be returned within the taxpayer's lifetime. The legislation lays an important foundation for resolving the ISO AMT crisis and addresses certain aspects of a severe inequity within the tax code.

"Many American families have been struggling for five years or more under tax burdens that greatly exceeded their fair share of tax, because of a quirk in the tax code that imposed huge taxes on money never received," stated Jay Cena of Reform AMT. "This legislation will allow some of the families to begin to piece their lives back together again."

About the Coalition for Tax Fairness

The Coalition for Tax Fairness (CTF) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that is supporting a legislative initiative to fix the current Incentive Stock Option Alternative Minimum Tax (ISO AMT) crisis. This growing problem was brought on by outdated laws unfairly affecting an unprecedented number of citizens, resulting in extremely disproportional taxes based on income that will never be received. CTF is working together with individuals and organizations such as ReformAMT (www.reformamt.org), through education, legislative initiatives, and grassroots efforts to help reform the ISO AMT tax law and alleviate this catastrophic situation. CTF was founded by ISO AMT victims and is managed by a group of national volunteers. For more information, visit www.fair-iso.org.