US Alternatve Minimum Tax

In the US, you are subject to a tax called Alternatve Minimum Tax if your calculated tax liability after all the various allowances are factored in is below a certain threshold. This is designed to catch rich people in the tax net because most of the tax reliefs are aimed at high earners. More recently, a lot middle-income earners have been caught too and this is where I am affected.

A few years ago, I was resident in the US but domiciled in Ireland so subject to Irish tax. Foreign earning allowances meant that my US tax liabilities were negligble except for one year where the AMT kicked in - I was effectively double-taxed in this year.

My question is - under the terms of the Ireland-USA tax treaty (designed to prevent double taxation, right?), can I offset this AMT against my Irish tax for that year? My accountant is looking into it but is not getting very much help from the Revenue. I

is there anyone out there who has been in a similar position or has heard of the problem before?

M

[broken link removed]<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->, where shall I send the invoice?

AMT

Thanks Max,

but it is the mechanics of my specific situation that is causing the problem - exactly how do I reclaim what I know I am owed? Neither my accountant nor his contacts in the Revenue know how to deal with this. I am in the situation where I may have to spend a lot of money on tax advice for something that may or may not pan out.

M

, looking at Form 12, one sees Other Tax Credits and Reliefs in panel 39 (2004) or panel 59 (2003).<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->My consultation fees are doubled for RTFF research.

Get an accountant who is used to dealing with this kind of thing. If he doesn't know how to deal with it why are you using him?

I've offset tax paid in Ireland against US tax due in the past, but never the other way around.