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stock acquired upon the exercise of those options subsequently
lost all of its value. The taxpayers argued that under those
circumstances, application of the AMT was unfair. Although not
unsympathetic to the taxpayers’ plight, the Court responded, id.
at 176, as follows:
The unfortunate consequences of the AMT in various
circumstances have been litigated since shortly after
the adoption of the AMT. In many different contexts,
literal application of the AMT has led to a perceived
hardship, but challenges based on equity have been
uniformly rejected. See, e.g., Alexander v.
Commissioner, 72 F.3d 938 (1st Cir. 1995), affg. T.C.
Memo. 1995-51; Okin v. Commissioner, 808 F.2d 1338 (9th
Cir. 1987), affg. T.C. Memo. 1985-199; Warfield v.
Commissioner, 84 T.C. 179 (1985); Huntsberry v.
Commissioner, 83 T.C. 742, 747-753 (1984); Prosman v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1999-87; Klaassen v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1998-241, affd. without
published opinion 182 F.3d 932 (10th Cir. 1999).
In Kenseth v. Commissioner, 259 F.3d 881, 885 (7th
Cir. 2001), affg. 114 T.C. 399 (2000), the Court of
Appeals for the Seventh Circuit commented:
it is not a feasible judicial undertaking to
achieve global equity in taxation * * * .
And if it were a feasible judicial
undertaking, it still would not be a proper
one, equity in taxation being a political
rather than a jural concept. * * *
* * * * * * *
We believe that here, too, the solution must be with
Congress.
* * * * * * *
Petitioners’ materials * * * show that Congress is well
aware of the claimed inequities resulting from the
application of the AMT and has, so far, declined to
act.
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