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taxable income for the taxable year determined with the
adjustments provided in section 56 and increased by the amount of
items of tax preference described in section 57. As stated
earlier, petitioners did not have any items of tax preference as
defined by section 57. The items of tax preference, however, are
only one part of the AMT computation. See Huntsberry v.
Commissioner, 83 T.C. 742, 744-745 (1984) (tax preferences play a
part in computing alternative minimum tax, but a taxpayer may be
liable for the AMT even though he may not have any tax
preferences). More significantly, although many of the
adjustments provided in section 56 do not apply to petitioners,
there are five adjustments that clearly apply here, the largest
of which is petitioners’ miscellaneous deductions that increase
their alternative minimum taxable income by $55,503. See sec.
56(b)(1)(A)(i).
However unfair this statute might seem to petitioners, the
Court is bound to apply the law as written. See Estate of Cowser
v. Commissioner, 736 F.2d 1168, 1171-1174 (7th Cir. 1984), affg.
80 T.C. 783 (1983). Accordingly, the statutory provisions of
section 55 impose the AMT of $2,747. We therefore sustain
respondent’s determination on this issue.
Petitioners argue, however, that respondent should be
estopped from assessing a deficiency for 2002 because respondent
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