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Harper at the Ford Truck Plant Tomorrow

On the heels of Ford Motor Company’s announcement today of $12.7 billion in losses during 2006, Republican gubernatorial candidate Billy Harper will make a statement to the press on the effects the Alternative Minimum Tax is having on Kentucky’s business climate at 8 a.m. Friday, Jan. 25, in front of the Kentucky Ford Truck Plant at 3001 Chamberlain Lane in Louisville.

The Alternative Minimum Tax was first proposed by a Democratic governor and was signed into law by the current governor. The tax is unfairly imposed on both profitable and unprofitable businesses equally.
In a tough year for Ford, a big employer in this area, they have had a rough time keeping both stockholders and employees happy. One or both of them were bound to end up a bit unhappy with the losses suffered by the company. So far, Louisville employees have been spared.

Governor Fletcher has said that he wants to help Ford stay in the state by offering tax incentives. Here's an idea: how about eliminating the AMT as a really great tax incentive?! Whether Ford lost or gained money, it still had to cough up the AMT to Kentucky. Way to hit 'em when they're down! Geez. We will have to do better when it comes to creating a friendly environment in which businesses can thrive here. So, folks, this ought to be an interesting press conference!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Fletcher says he created jobs? The Department of Labor says we lost 55,000 jobs after the AMT passed (2005).

Where was Northup at the candidate forum? What is she afraid of? This was her golden opportunity to challenge the Governor... As for those who did show up, every candidate talked about change, but only Billy Harper is from outside the political arena. Given his real world experience, he will actually get things done.
Anonymous said…
Dawn,

I think you are mistaken about how the alternative minimum tax came into existence. It was not first proposed by a democratic governor & singed into law by the current governor.

Corporate and individual minimum taxes were first put into the U.S. tax code in 1969.
The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) system is part of the federal income tax system in the United States.

The AMT was introduced by the Tax Reform Act of 1969, and became operative in 1970.

The United States Tax Reform Act of 1969 established individual and corporate minimum taxes, established a new tax schedule for single taxpayers, and lowered the maximum rate on earned income from 70 percent to 50 percent.

It was intended to target 155 high-income households that were eligible for so many tax benefits that they wound up paying little or no income tax under the tax code of the time.

In recent years, the AMT has become the subject of increased attention. Because the AMT is not indexed to inflation, an increasing number of middle-income taxpayers have been and will be finding themselves subject to this higher tax.

Critics of the AMT argue that it suffers from various flaws:
The AMT is not indexed with inflation, which leads to a lower cutoff as time goes by.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that in 2006 34.6% of taxpayers in the $50,000 to $100,000 AGI range will owe AMT.

For 2004 (the most recent year with released figures), $50,000 of AGI represents the 69th percentile of income.

The IRS estimates that by 2010, 34% of all individual filers who pay income tax will be subject to the AMT

It is a HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE tax mostly because it is not indexed with inflation and consequently killing the middle class wage earner.

The ONLY way to repeal the tax is through Congress - no governor has the power to change the tax laws, I believe only Congress can do that.
Rena Bernard said…
Thanks for the thoughtful commentary, Anon 9:39am. I think you're recounting the history of the federal AMT though... The AMT being referred to so often lately on this blog is actually the Kentucky state version of the AMT -- it's technically called the Alternative Minimum Calculation (AMC) on the state books. It's a tad confusing, I know.

Here's the text of the law:
http://www.lrc.ky.gov/kar/103/016/220.htm

It isn't targeted at individuals; it targets corporations -- even those corporations who are struggling in the red. When a company doesn't make a profit, how can we demand taxes? It isn't right. It chases out the businesses who are struggling. They go elsewhere. It hurts all of us in the long run.

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