The individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) is a tax system parallel to the regular income tax: taxpayers are required to pay taxes under the AMT whenever it yields a larger liability than the regular tax. Under current law, more than 20 million taxpayers, including many middle-class households, will pay the AMT this year, up from fewer than 4 million last year.

At this event, cosponsored by AEI and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, economist Leonard E. Burman of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center will present a paper that analyzes and compares twenty-three proposals to address the spread of the AMT. AEI scholars and tax experts Daniel Shaviro, a lawyer, and Alan D. Viard, an economist, will offer legal and economic perspectives.