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The alternative minimum tax (AMT) was enacted back in 1969 to ensure that high-income individuals don’t take advantage of multiple tax breaks and avoid paying federal tax. However, in recent years, the AMT has been imposed on many middle-income taxpayers. Unfortunately, the...

Unfortunately, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) retains the individual Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). But there’s a silver lining: The AMT rules now reduce the odds that you’ll owe the AMT for 2018 through 2025. Plus, even if you’re still in the AMT zone,...

There’s a fine line between businesses and hobbies under the federal tax code. If you engage in an unincorporated sideline — such as a marketing director by day and an artist on the nights and weekends — you may think of that side activity as a business and hope to deduct...

When it comes to tax planning, you’ve got to be ready for anything. For example, do you know whether you’re likely to be subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) when you file your 2016 return? If not, you need to find out now so that you can consider taking steps before year...

Investment interest — interest on debt used to buy assets held for investment, such as margin debt used to buy securities — generally is deductible for both regular tax and alternative minimum tax purposes. But special rules apply that can make the deduction less beneficial than...

Smart timing of deductible expenses can reduce your tax liability, and poor timing can unnecessarily increase it. When you don’t expect to be subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) in the current year, accelerating deductible expenses into the current year typically is a...

A fundamental tax planning strategy is to accelerate deductible expenses into the current year. This typically will defer — and in some cases permanently reduce — your taxes. But there are exceptions. One is if the additional deductions this year trigger the alternative minimum...

Many expenses that may qualify as miscellaneous itemized deductions are deductible for regular tax purposes only to the extent they exceed, in aggregate, 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). Bunching these expenses into a single year may allow you to exceed this “floor.” So...