Published: December 19, 2007

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to spare millions more Americans who do not consider themselves “rich” from being ensnared in a tax device originally designed for people who really are.

By 352 to 64, the House voted to shield about 21 million or so Americans from being hit by the alternative minimum tax when they file their returns for 2007. The measure providing for a one-year stay on the A.M.T. now goes to President Bush, who has said he will sign it.
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Passage of the A.M.T. legislation is good news to those taxpayers who would have had to pay an extra $2,000 or so a person. It is safe to say that no politician, Republican or Democrat, wanted to adjourn for the holiday season without doing something about the A.M.T., which already affects several million taxpayers.
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The alternative minimum tax was enacted in 1969, to keep wealthy Americans from being able to avoid taxes altogether by using various loopholes and deductions available to the rich.

But back then, a family with an income of, say, $150,000 a year could truly be considered “rich.” That amount back then would be equivalent to more than $850,000 today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To turn things around, $26,000 in 1969 would equal about $150,000 today.

But since the A.M.T. has not been adjusted for inflation, it has affected more and more people who see themselves as middle-class, or at most upper middle-class.