Coalition for Tax Fairness and ReformAMT Praise House of Representatives on Passage of ISO AMT Correction Legislation.

Provision in the Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008 Comprehensively and Fairly Resolves Eight Year Crisis Caused by AMT Tax Imposed on Phantom Income 

WASHINGTON -- The Coalition for Tax Fairness (CTF), an organization working to address the Incentive Stock Option Alternative Minimum Tax (ISO AMT) crisis, and ReformAMT, a grassroots tax reform organization, applaud the House of Representatives for passing legislation that fairly and comprehensively provides relief for tens of thousands of workers suffering for eight years from unintended, severely disproportional AMT tax burdens. The legislation restores the incentives Congress put in place for starting and growing new businesses, and returns to employees and their families AMT tax on income never received.

Late yesterday, the Senate passed identical ISO AMT relief legislation included as part of the Senate Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008. The ISO correction and relief provision in H.R. 7005, the Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008 is based on the AMT Credit Fairness and Relief Act H.R. 3861 that was sponsored in the House by Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) along with lead Republican cosponsor Congressman Sam Johnson (R-TX), original cosponsors Congressman Richard Neal (D-MA) and Congressman Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and twenty-three other cosponsors. The Senate identical counterpart S.2389 was introduced on November 16, 2007 by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) along with original cosponsors Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), and is also cosponsored by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Senate Finance ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA).

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, based on phantom "income" they never received. In many cases, families were unable to pay - leading the IRS to seize their houses and savings and garnish their wages. The legislation just passed by the House and Senate provides relief to many of these families by accelerating the refund of taxes paid on the phantom income and by stopping further IRS efforts to collect those taxes. The legislation resolves the eight-year ISO AMT crisis and addresses a severe inequity within the tax code.

"For the third time this Congress, the House has declared its intention to end the ISO AMT travesty once and for all, " said Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). "While everyone should expect to pay his or her fair share of taxes, no one should have to lose his home, retirement savings or children's college fund because of a completely unintended consequence of the Code. With growing, bipartisan support for a permanent ISO AMT fix in the Senate, I am hopeful we will get this correction signed into law this year."

"I am thrilled to see House passage of legislation to put an end to this long nightmare," said Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX). "For too many years I've had constituents who were subject to taxation on income they never received. To pay taxes on this 'phantom income' my constituents have emptied their retirement accounts, taken money out of their children's education funds, and put second mortgages on their homes. Others have had their homes sold by the IRS to pay taxes on income they never received. It is long-past time to get this important change made law."

"The Coalition for Tax Fairness commends the House of Representatives for demonstrating once again its commitment to pass legislation that will once and for all resolve a crisis that has devastated families for eight years. Families who have for years been barely hanging on financially, due to hugely disproportional AMT tax burdens assessed on income they never received, now see hope for relief in sight," stated Tim Carlson, President of the Coalition for Tax Fairness. "We are especially grateful to Representative Van Hollen and Representative Johnson for their leadership on this issue, and for Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Ranking Member Jim McCrery (R-LA) for their support for including this important relief in the AMT and Disaster Relief legislation. The Coalition encourages the Senate to quickly pass this legislation and restore fair and equitable tax treatment to tens of thousands of American families."

"ReformAMT sincerely thanks the House for passing this fair and comprehensive relief legislation for American workers and businesses," said Jay Cena, Co-Founder of ReformAMT. "People have been living for years with unfair tax burdens - many have had to declare bankruptcy and have lost their homes and savings - and this legislation will allow them to once again live normal lives and be fully productive citizens. This relief will also save the many others who are still being pursued by IRS collections. Entrepreneurs are vital to our economy's health and job creation, and this ISO correction fixes a tax provision that was harming employees and undermining the very behavior Congress intended to encourage."

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. CTF was formed to address the growing ISO AMT tax crisis, which is causing extreme financial hardship for tens of thousands of hardworking American families. CTF is working together with individuals and organizations such as ReformAMT, through education, legislative initiatives, and grassroots efforts to help reform the ISO AMT tax law and alleviate this catastrophic situation. For more information, visit www.fair-iso.org.

About ReformAMT

ReformAMT is a non-partisan, grass roots organization focused on a legislative remedy to correct a flaw in the Alternative Minimum Tax's (AMT) antiquated treatment of Incentive Stock Options (ISOs). This widespread issue has financially devastated taxpayers who, under the current law, must pay taxes on phantom income they have never received. Founded in 2001, ReformAMT has grown to include thousands of members in 48 states & 306 Congressional districts. ReformAMT has been at the forefront of educating corporations, tax professionals, trade associations and lawmakers about the AMT's negative impact on taxpayers who exercise incentive stock options. For more information, please visit www.reformamt.org.