WATCH OUT FOR THE AMT

The alternative minimum tax(AMT), enacted more than 30years ago, was originally aimed atwealthy taxpayers who used a vastarray of deductions to pare their taxburden, sometimes down to zero.Now, middle-income taxpayers arefeeling the AMT bite. In 1999, only5.7% of those with incomes between$100,000 and $200,000 paid theAMT; by 2010, 35.6% of taxpayersin that income bracket will be payingit. In that year, 64% of those withincomes of more than $200,000 willbe subject to the AMT, up from18.8% in 2000. That's mainly because,unlike regular tax brackets andexemptions, the AMT has neverbeen indexed for inflation. To see ifthe AMT looms in your tax future,use the Turbotax AMT calculator(www.turbotax.com/calculators).