Taxpayer Choice Act

The Taxpayer Choice Act (H.R. 3818/S. 2416) was a bill in the United States Congress which, if enacted, would have amended the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the alternative minimum tax on individual taxpayers. The bill was reproposed in 2009 as H.R. 782. The bill was not voted upon in either session. The legislation would create an alternative, simplified tax that individuals may choose over the current personal income tax. Under the proposal, tax rates would be set at 10% on alternative taxable income up to $100,000 for joint filers (or $50,000 for single filers) and 25% on income above those thresholds, together with a large standard deduction and no itemized deductions, a structure argued to greatly reduce the complexity caused by the current income tax and its associated information-return forms. The bill would also make permanent the capital gains and dividends rate reductions enacted by the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. In the House, the bill was introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), ranking member on the House Budget Committee, and had 83 cosponsors in 2007 and 22 fellow Republicans in 2009. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Jim DeMint. The plan was supported by FreedomWorks, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, and former 2008 presidential candidate Fred Thompson, whose own campaign tax proposal mirrored the bill's two-rate structure. Opponents, including the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, argued that full repeal of the alternative minimum tax would impose substantial revenue losses on the federal government.

See also

• Alternative Minimum Tax
• Income tax in the United States
• Taxation in the United States
• Tax reform

External links

• H.R. 3818 — Taxpayer Choice Act of 2007 at Congress.gov
• S. 2416 — Taxpayer Choice Act of 2007 at Congress.gov
• H.R. 782 — Taxpayer Choice Act of 2009 at GovTrack.us
• Taxpayer Choice Act of 2007 — original text of H.R.1366 (House precursor)