Thanks for the clarification. As a non-finance person,
myself, I found this form a bit confusing, but could figure
it out. I really appreciate your helpful input very much.

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They are automatically negative due to the ( ) around the
entries on the form. Therefor, you subtract them from the
total. ed

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agal[at]emory.edu writes:

- quote -

The parentheses mean "negative number". It's a standard
accounting convention.

- quote -

The instructions don't mention it because the pre-printed
parentheses mean subtraction by definition.

--
Rich Carreiro rlcarr[at]animato.arlington.ma.us

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agal[at]emory.edu wrote:

- quote -

The values entered in line 6 and 7 are negative. For
everyone. So as you sum up all the lines 1 thru 27, you'd
subtract the number itself. (e.g. adding "-3000" in a list
of numbers is the same as subtracting "3000".)

JOE

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Just a quick question: I'm filling out 6251 for AMT for the
1st time and need help for lines 6 & 7 with the parentheses.
In figuring my taxes, I did it manually and again by using
Tax Cut. This tax preparation program puts these values as
negative, so I presume these are to deducted, rather than
added. Yet, the instructions for form 6251 make no mention
that they should be subtracted.... so when I first did this
form by hand I added these amounts, and this increased my
AMT significantly. What's correct?

Thanks

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >