Quote:
Originally Posted by delao13
AG4ever, you KNEW the hybrid credit was tied to the AMT? I ask because in all the reading I did on hybrids, I have never seen this connection made until 2 days ago. I realize anyone ever hit with the AMT does not soon for get it. But it is one thing to know you are going to get bit by the AMT and another to know that your regular tax obligation has to surpass the AMT by $2600 to receive the full credit.
I agree with another point made on this thread. I would the Camry on its merits, regardless of the tax credit. The tax credit made a good decision, a no brainer however.
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It is simply a matter of credits and deductions. All deductions can put you into the AMT if you have enough of them. Credits get you there faster since your tax liabilty goes down faster with a credit than a deduction. I knew going in that our household income puts us in a perilious position to hit the AMT sooner, and the hybrid credit could do it. From when I did my taxes roughly, I am about $1000 away from the AMT using the standard deduction. That is my gripe, that the two taxes are so darn close that if I had more itemizations (like mortgage interest), I would be in the AMT with little or no help from the hybrid credit.
Everyones gripe should not be with the hybrid credit, but the AMT.
ALL CREDITS WILL CAUSE THE SAME AMT ISSUES, the hybrid credit is not special. Unfortunatly. most people don't research taxes enough to know, they just plunk the money down for turbo tax, and let it do its thing. I prefer to do it manually so I have some control over how the return is filed. There are thousands of correct ways to file your return and do the math, turbo tax just picks the safest. I pick one of the ways that is still legal and benifits me more, much like a good accountant would do.
(I also read a post on one of the forums somewhere that mentioned it, or it might have been an article, while researching the credit in October.)