Alternative minimum tax?

[Ping898]

Does anyone here really understand how the AMT works? Everything online I find confusing. I know that taxes aren't until next March, but I bring this up now cause I need to know if I need to be concerned about it and change my withholding. I was just reading an article about it and Congress's lack of action (which I no longer have) and it was said that people making between X and Y could be hit with and extra $1000 in taxes come tax time. Now my actual on paper salary before retirement and health insurance and such are removed I make just below X and if I get a promotion or anything between now and the end of the year, I will top over X. I don't have any complicated deductions, just mortgage, charitiable contributions and the standard deduction and only income outside of salary would be dividends and interest from investments. Anyone know ant easy way to for me to ballpark figure out if the AMT is something I have to be concerned about if Congress does nothing to fix it?

Thanks.

 

[Phoenix44]

You could pick up TurboTax--I used it last year, and it was great. Or you could plug in your expected numbers on a 1040 form, using the tax tables http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040tt.pdf and see how it works out.

I got hit with the AMT last year. It's really annoying.