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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (31125)	1/30/1999 6:05:00 PM
From: Bill	Respond to of 67261

Which you doubt? I'll prove to you that I'm a coach. OK? Ready? The reason the Texas football program is a mess is because they're not paying the players enough money. OK now, are you convinced?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (31125)	1/30/1999 6:09:00 PM
From: Bill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

Local issues are not as interesting to the group at large as national ones. That's why you don't generate much sympathy on your HMO, housing or educational issues.

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (31125)	1/31/1999 11:54:00 AM
From: Les H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

Minimum Tax May Be Changed By The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Clinton administration is proposing a two-year reprieve for millions of middle-class people who might otherwise face unexpectedly higher tax bills simply because they took advantage of new education or child tax credits. The proposal would ensure that people of modest incomes who use such credits are not unwittingly subject to the alternative minimum tax -- a complex tax created to prevent the wealthy from sheltering too much income. Since many tax credits now benefit middle class taxpayers, they can conceivably lower tax bills to nothing, which could in turn trigger the alternative minimum tax. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the measure excluding such credits from the minimum tax will be included in the fiscal 2000 budget President Clinton will unveil Monday. Total cost for the two-year measure is projected at $1.4 billion. The move was anticipated by tax analysts, particularly since Congress acted last fall to make sure people using the $400-per-child credit, Hope scholarship and lifetime learning credits to reduce their 1998 taxes were not penalized by the minimum tax. ''It would be terribly embarrassing, because the people who were affected would not be appropriate,'' said Tom Ochsenslager, tax partner at the Grant Thornton accounting firm. ''If they are in (the alternative minimum tax) they're going to pay more, they'll be caught unawares and they'll owe penalties and interest.'' The current exclusion applies only to the 1998 tax year. The Clinton administration would extend the exclusion for the 1999 and 2000 tax years, according to the senior official. It would also cover the administration's proposed new credits for such things as caring for disabled people and stay-at-home care of infants. Without the exclusion, the administration estimated that the number of people affected by the minimum tax would rise from 1.5 million in 1999 to 12 million by 2009. Rep. Bill Archer, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, noted that Republicans have sought to eliminate or reduce the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, which he said could particularly hurt families with several children. ''This shows once more that when politicians try to soak the rich with higher taxes, it's often the middle class that gets wet,'' said Archer, R-Texas. ''The AMT is a tax-hike time bomb.'' There are several disadvantages to the AMT, starting with its sheer complexity. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that it requires five hours to complete the form. The AMT allows virtually no deductions for such things as state taxes. Although there is a $45,000 exemption for joint filers, AMT tax rates begin at 26 percent -- much higher than the 15 percent paid by many modest-income people. Aside from those details, many middle-class people probably would never know they could be required to pay the AMT. That means they'd get an unexpected notice from the IRS asking them for more money, plus penalties and interest, just because they took advantage of tax credits. ''A realistic concern would be that a person would not even realize they are subject to the tax,'' Ochsenslager said. >>>>What a joke the tax code is. Now, they're giving preferential >>>>treatment to some tax credits over other tax credits.