In article <7b59bc6b-cd84-43a3-8012-31fbb3bbe8cd[at]x19g2000prg.googlegroups.com> ,
removeps-groups[at]yahoo.com <removeps-groups[at]yahoo.com> wrote:
- quote -

There's a relationship between the nominal tax bracket and the
effective tax bracket.

If there's a phaseout in effect, effective = nominal / (1-phaseout).
For most people towards the bottom of the AMT range, the effective
marginal rate is 35%.

Seth

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On Apr 8, 3:18 pm, se...[at]panix.com (Seth) wrote:

- quote -

You're right. I initially thought that charitable contributions are
not allowed under AMT, but they are (as no line on that form asks you
to add it back), so I stand corrected. So the tax savings will be as
you say above.

Furthermore, I plugged numbers into my tax program and then I saw line
29 of form 6251 (the AMT exemption). Because the AMT income (line 28)
is less by $1000, the AMT exemption (line 29) is phased out less and
will be greater, meaning that less of your income is subject to AMT.
In my scenario (single filer, 200k income, CA tax 17k, no donations)
line28=200000, line29=22475. With a 1k donation, line28=199000,
line29=22725. Bottom line is that without the donation net tax is
46207; with the donation it is 45857, and net savings is 350 or 35%.
(Note that this person (with 17k of CA taxes) had itemized deduction
phaseout.) Yet the person's tax bracket is 33%.

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In article <deb4a322-3e9a-437f-a557-5ff9b39bb95b[at]c19g2000prf.googlegroups.com> ,
removeps-groups[at]yahoo.com <removeps-groups[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

[effect of $1000 charitable deduction]

- quote -

If he's a little or a lot into AMT, it's worth $280. If he's in
between, $350 (I think the phaseout is 25%).

Seth

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

removeps-groups[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -

I don't believe charitable deductions are impacted by AMT. i.e. I just
pulled up TurboTax, added $1000 to a charitable deduction, and saw tax
due drop by my marginal rate. Yes, I am otherwise impacted by AMT, as my
property tax has no impact on the bottom line.
Joe

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On Apr 7, 4:24 am, joetaxpayer <joetaxpa...[at]nospam.com> wrote:

- quote -

It's quite possible he'll be in AMT (as well as the itemized deduction
phaseout), in which case the deduction would be $0 to $50. I
calculated $50 as 33% deduction saving $330, followed by AMT of 28% or
280, for net savings of 330-280=50.

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On Apr 6, 10:59 pm, "nickra...[at]gmail.com" <nickr...[at]gmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

What is filing status? What are you itemized deductions? What are
your mortgage and investment interest? It could range from 0% to 33%.

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joetaxpayer wrote:
- quote -

Just to be clear, we are only talking about 2008 taxes and beyond, since
any contributions you did or did not make in 2007 are history, and you
either have the required documentation or you don't.

To add to Joe's reply, limitations on itemized deductions and/or AMT can
complicate the result a little. The easiest way to get an answer is to
use software, make a copy of your return, and put in "what if" numbers
to see how the result changes.

-Mark Bole

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nickravo1[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

Nick - are you already itemizing? You see, if you are taking the
standard deduction, you save nothing by making a donation, they are part
of the Schedule A itemized deductions.
Assuming you own a house and/or have high state taxes, and are
itemizing, it can be $280 or $330. AGI is not 'taxable income', that's
the line you need to go to to have a real answer.
If MFJ (married filing joint) in 2008 the 33% bracket starts at $200,300
so you'd be in the 28% bracket. If single, the 33% bracket starts at
$164,550.

Look at http://www.fairmark.com/refrence/index.htm
to see the tax rate schedules. You can see exactly where I get these
numbers from.

Joe
www.blog.joetaxpayer.com

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How much will a $1,000 donation reduce by tax bill, if my AGI is
$200,000?

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >