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deductions are not allowed in the computation of the alternative
minimum taxable income. Sec. 56(b)(1)(A)(i). The sum of these
disallowed items may trigger a liability for the AMT. In the
present case, petitioner’s miscellaneous itemized deductions
alone total $33,402 after application of the 2-percent floor
under section 67. Coupled with the other unallowable expenses,
specifically spelled out in the statute, petitioner’s AMT
liability ensues.
Petitioner nevertheless contends that the AMT is confusing
and complex, and he is unclear as to why he is liable for the
AMT, which effectively deprives him of the benefit of his
itemized deductions. Congress established the alternative
minimum taxable income as a broad base of income in order to tax
taxpayers more closely on their economic income, intending for
all taxpayers to pay their fair share of the overall Federal
income tax burden. Allen v. Commissioner, 118 T.C. 1, 5 (2002).
However unfair this statute might seem to petitioner, the Court
must apply the law as written. As this Court noted in Hays Corp.
v. Commissioner, 40 T.C. 436, 443 (1963), affd. 331 F.2d 422 (7th
Cir. 1964): “The proper place for a consideration of
petitioner’s complaint is the halls of Congress, not here.”
Respondent, therefore, is sustained on this issue.
Reviewed and adopted as the report of the Small Tax Case
Division.
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