Avoid Minimum Income Taxes!

How Can I Plan Ahead for the AMT?

Many people do not realize the tax implications of the minimum tax and therefore do not plan for it. There are ways and remedies to keep you from getting hurt when it comes to filing your taxes and it is important that you take some time to protect your money from going to the irs when you do not have to legally pay it.

There are some things you can do to plan ahead for the Alternative Minimum Tax:

1. Use tax-planning software such as TurboTax during the year to minimize your overall tax liability.

2. Study Form 6251 each time you prepare your tax return to see how close you are to paying the AMT. Evaluate how close your Tentative Minimum Tax (line 33) was to your regular tax (line 34). For information on Form 6251, see the Instructions.

3. Check last year's return for any general business credits that are being carried forward. If there are some, they may be due to the Tentative Minimum Tax limit.

4. If you exercise stock options during the year, see Incentive Stock Options for guidance on how the timing of the subsequent sale of stock can affect your AMT liability.

For more info on this and other tax question, go to www.irsman.net

Remember that the IRS is not looking out for you, so you have to look out for yourself and your income tax return. A tax preparer is only one way to protect yourself, you need to be armed with as much knowledge as possible.

www.irsman.net