2016 AMT Exemption
For 2016, the AMT Exemption figures are $83,800 (Exemption, joint returns or surviving spouses), $53,900 (Exemption, unmarried individuals), $41,900 (Exemption, married individuals filing separate returns) and 5 more figures below.
| Item | Joint returns or surviving spouses | Unmarried individuals | Married individuals filing separate returns | Estates and trusts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exemption | $83,800 | $53,900 | $41,900 | $23,900 |
| Exemption phaseout threshold | $159,700 | $119,700 | $79,850 | $79,850 |
Effective 2016-01-01Source: Rev. Proc. 2015-53 (IRS)Verified 2026-09-03
Exemption
Exemption phaseout threshold
$23,900$159,700
One dot per column of the table, on a scale running from the smallest of these amounts to the largest. The scale is logarithmic - each faint line is ten times the one before it, so that the amounts crowded at the low end stay far enough apart to read. The table states which dot is which.
Who it applies to
Taxpayers computing the Alternative Minimum Tax for taxable years beginning in 2016
What changed this year, and why
The IRS published the 2016 Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) exemption amounts under § 55(d)(1) and the phaseout threshold for joint returns or surviving spouses under § 55(d)(3).
Common questions
- What is the AMT exemption amount for each filing status in 2016?
- For 2016, the AMT exemption is $83,800 for joint returns or surviving spouses, $53,900 for unmarried individuals (other than surviving spouses), $41,900 for married individuals filing separate returns, and $23,900 for estates and trusts.
- At what alternative minimum taxable income does the exemption begin to phase out?
- For joint returns or surviving spouses, the exemption begins to phase out when alternative minimum taxable income reaches $159,700.
What the alternative minimum tax actually is
The alternative minimum tax (AMT) is a separate federal tax that runs alongside the regular income tax. It targets taxpayers who benefit from tax preferences - such as favorable treatment of certain income types or special deductions - that would otherwise let them pay very little regular tax relative to their economic income. By imposing this additional layer, the AMT places a floor on how much those benefits can lower a taxpayer's total liability. If the AMT calculation produces a higher figure than the regular tax, the difference is owed as additional tax. Taxpayers use IRS Form 6251 to work through the computation, starting with regular taxable income and then making the adjustments and additions the tax code requires for AMT purposes.
The AMT is a separate tax that is imposed in addition to your regular tax. It applies to taxpayers who have certain types of income that receive favorable treatment, or who qualify for certain deductions, under the tax law. These tax benefits can significantly reduce the regular tax of some taxpayers with higher economic incomes. The AMT sets a limit on the amount these benefits can be used to reduce total tax.
Instructions for Form 6251 (2016), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
When you have to file Form 6251
You must attach Form 6251 to your tax return if any of four conditions apply. First, if your AMT calculated on line 31 exceeds your regular tax on line 34, you owe the difference and must file. Second, if you claim a general business credit and either Part I line 6 or Form 3800 line 25 exceeds zero, the form is required. Third, claiming certain specific credits - the qualified electric vehicle credit, the personal-use portion of the alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit, or the prior-year minimum tax credit - triggers the filing requirement. Fourth, if the combined total of lines 8 through 27 is negative and line 31 would exceed line 34 without those amounts, you must attach the form even if the final AMT owed is zero. Meeting any one of these tests means Form 6251 must accompany your return.
Who Must File Attach Form 6251 to your return if any of the following statements is true. 1. Form 6251, line 31, is greater than line 34. 2. You claim any general business credit, and either line 6 (in Part I) or line 25 of Form 3800 is more than zero. 3. You claim the qualified electric vehicle credit, the personal use part of the alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit, or the credit for prior year minimum tax. 4. The total of Form 6251, lines 8 through 27, is negative and line 31 would be greater than line 34 if you did not take into account lines 8 through 27.
Instructions for Form 6251 (2016), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
How the exemption is taken away as income rises
Your AMT exemption is phased out as your alternative minimum taxable income (AMTI) rises. The worksheet on Form 6251, line 29, provides specific income thresholds above which the exemption is completely eliminated. For married couples filing jointly or qualifying widow(er)s, if your AMTI on line 28 reaches $494,900 or more, your exemption drops to zero and you cannot claim any amount. Single filers and heads of household lose their exemption when AMTI hits $335,300, while married individuals filing separately reach zero exemption at $247,450. These phaseout levels are double the underlying exemption amounts - meaning the exemption is fully gone once income exceeds roughly four times the base exemption for joint filers and six times for single filers. If your income exceeds these thresholds, you skip the exemption calculation entirely and move directly to computing tentative minimum tax on your full AMTI.
Note. If Form 6251, line 28, is equal to or more than: $335,300 if single or head of household, $494,900 if married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er), or $247,450 if married filing separately, your exemption is zero. Don’t complete this worksheet; instead, enter the amount from Form 6251, line 28, on line 30 and go to line 31.
Instructions for Form 6251 (2016), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
The two AMT rates and where the second one starts
Form 6251 applies two tax rates to your tentative minimum tax base. For most filers, the lower rate of 26% applies to the first $186,300 of AMTI after the exemption is subtracted. Married individuals filing separately use a lower threshold of $93,150 before the higher rate takes effect. Once your taxable AMT base exceeds these amounts, the 28% rate applies to the excess, but the form gives you a simplified method: multiply the entire base by 28% and subtract a fixed dollar amount - $3,726 for most filers or $1,863 for married filing separately - to reach the same result as calculating the two brackets separately. This two-bracket structure means that while most AMT is computed at the lower rate, higher-income taxpayers ultimately pay a higher marginal rate on income above the threshold.
All others: If line 3 is $186,300 or less ($93,150 or less if married filing separately), multiply line 3 by 26% (0.26). Otherwise, multiply line 3 by 28% (0.28) and subtract $3,726 ($1,863 if married filing separately) from the result.
Instructions for Form 6251 (2016), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
AMT you pay this year can become a credit against regular tax in a future year
If you paid alternative minimum tax in 2015 or had a minimum tax credit carryforward on your 2015 Form 8801, you can use that form to claim a credit. The instructions direct you to see Form 8801, Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax - Individuals, Estates, and Trusts, if either of those conditions applies. More importantly, if you pay AMT for 2016, you may be able to take a credit on Form 8801 for 2017. This means the alternative minimum tax you pay this year does not simply vanish; it can become a credit that reduces your regular tax in a future year. The credit is not automatic or immediate - it requires you to file Form 8801 and follow its calculations to determine how much of the prior-year AMT qualifies as a credit against your regular tax liability in subsequent years. This mechanism helps prevent double taxation when taxpayers are subject to the alternative minimum tax in one year but return to the regular tax system in later years.
Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax See Form 8801, Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax—Individuals, Estates, and Trusts, if you paid AMT for 2015 or you had a minimum tax credit carryforward on your 2015 Form 8801.
Instructions for Form 6251 (2016), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
Your tentative minimum tax caps how far certain credits can reduce your regular tax
The alternative minimum tax system does more than just compute a separate tax liability; it also sets a ceiling on how much certain tax credits can reduce your regular tax. You use Form 6251 to figure your tentative minimum tax, which appears on line 33 of the form. That tentative minimum tax amount is what you need to know in order to figure the tax liability limit on the credits listed under Who Must File. In other words, your tentative minimum tax acts as a cap: it determines the maximum amount by which specified credits can offset your regular tax liability. If the credits you are claiming would otherwise reduce your regular tax below your tentative minimum tax, they are limited to the difference. This ensures that even taxpayers who qualify for various credits cannot use them to reduce their tax below the minimum level set by the AMT system. The credits subject to this limitation are identified in the Who Must File section of the Form 6251 instructions.
Also use Form 6251 to figure your tentative minimum tax (Form 6251, line 33). You may need to know that amount to figure the tax liability limit on the credits listed under Who Must File.
Instructions for Form 6251 (2016), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
Sell ISO stock too soon and you owe a reconciling AMT adjustment
When you sell incentive stock option shares before meeting the required holding periods, the sale is treated as a disqualifying disposition. The instructions list ordinary income from the disposition of property not already taken into account elsewhere on Form 6251 as one of the items that must be refigured for AMT purposes. This includes a disqualifying disposition of stock acquired in a prior year by exercising an incentive stock option. You must first figure any ordinary income adjustment related to that disqualifying disposition. Then you refigure Form 4684, Form 4797, Form 8949, and Schedule D for the AMT by taking into account any adjustments you made that year or in previous years that affect your basis or otherwise result in a different amount for the AMT. This reconciling adjustment ensures that the AMT treatment aligns with the regular tax consequences of the early sale, potentially generating a negative adjustment in the year of disposition that reduces your alternative minimum taxable income.
Ordinary income from the disposition of property not already taken into account in (1) or (2) or on any other line on Form 6251, such as a disqualifying disposition of stock acquired in a prior year by exercising an incentive stock option; and 4. Capital gain or loss (including any carryover that is different for the AMT) reported on Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets, or Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses. First figure any ordinary income adjustment related to (3) above.
Instructions for Form 6251 (2016), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Rev. Proc. 2015-53 (IRS)
- Exemption, joint returns or surviving spouses
Joint Returns or $83,800 Surviving Spouses
- Exemption, unmarried individuals
Unmarried Individuals (other than $53,900 Surviving Spouses)
- Exemption, married individuals filing separate returns
Married Individuals Filing Separate $41,900 Returns
- Exemption, estates and trusts
Estates and Trusts $23,900
- Exemption phaseout threshold, joint returns or surviving spouses
For taxable years beginning in 2016, the amounts used under § 55(d)(3) to determine the phaseout of the exemption amounts are: Joint Returns or $159,700 Surviving Spouses
- Exemption phaseout threshold, unmarried individuals
Unmarried Individuals (other than $119,700 Surviving Spouses)
- Exemption phaseout threshold, married individuals filing separate returns
Married Individuals Filing Separate $79,850 Returns and Estates and Trusts
- Exemption phaseout threshold, estates and trusts
Married Individuals Filing Separate $79,850 Returns and Estates and Trusts