Hi All,
I'm of the "Your taxes are not so complicated, do them yourself *face punch*" camp. I had a mustachian wrench thrown in my otherwise fairly tight annual tax withholdings calculation by getting married in 2014 and bumping into US Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
Is there any way to avoid this? I've been searching around and haven't found a great resource on it - they're either too dumbed down or just instructions on how to fill out the forms. Does anyone have some good reading that gives actionable tips to avoid? Anyone tried married filing separate? I feel like that shouldn't work, but our tax laws are so dumb.
I used 2 tax preparation software suites (H&R Block was $245 better before price than TurboTax, TurboTax refund pending) but have read form 6251 can be tough and am skeptical the tax software addresses this. I'm loathe to pay someone to do something so easy but has anyone somehow avoided or minimized their AMT taxes by paying a tax pro?