2022 AMT Exemption
For 2022, the AMT Exemption figures are $118,100 (Exemption, joint returns or surviving spouses), $75,900 (Exemption, unmarried individuals), $59,050 (Exemption, married individuals filing separate returns) and 9 more figures below.
| Item | Joint returns or surviving spouses | Unmarried individuals | Married individuals filing separate returns | Estates and trusts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exemption | $118,100 | $75,900 | $59,050 | $26,500 |
| Exemption phaseout threshold | $1,079,800 | $539,900 | $539,900 | $88,300 |
| Fully phased out | $1,552,200 | $843,500 | $776,100 | $194,300 |
Effective 2022-01-01Source: Rev. Proc. 2021-45 (IRS)Verified 2026-09-03
Compared with 2021
| Item | 2021 | 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exemption, joint returns or surviving spouses | $114,600 | $118,100 | +$3,500 (+3.1%) |
| Exemption, unmarried individuals | $73,600 | $75,900 | +$2,300 (+3.1%) |
| Exemption, married individuals filing separate returns | $57,300 | $59,050 | +$1,750 (+3.1%) |
| Exemption, estates and trusts | $25,700 | $26,500 | +$800 (+3.1%) |
| Exemption phaseout threshold, joint returns or surviving spouses | $1,047,200 | $1,079,800 | +$32,600 (+3.1%) |
| Exemption phaseout threshold, unmarried individuals | $523,600 | $539,900 | +$16,300 (+3.1%) |
| Exemption phaseout threshold, married individuals filing separate returns | $523,600 | $539,900 | +$16,300 (+3.1%) |
| Exemption phaseout threshold, estates and trusts | $85,650 | $88,300 | +$2,650 (+3.1%) |
| Fully phased out, joint returns or surviving spouses | $1,505,600 | $1,552,200 | +$46,600 (+3.1%) |
| Fully phased out, unmarried individuals | $818,000 | $843,500 | +$25,500 (+3.1%) |
| Fully phased out, married individuals filing separate returns | $752,800 | $776,100 | +$23,300 (+3.1%) |
| Fully phased out, estates and trusts | $188,450 | $194,300 | +$5,850 (+3.1%) |
Exemption
Exemption phaseout threshold
Fully phased out
$26,500$1,552,200
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 who are subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax, including individuals filing as joint returns or surviving spouses, unmarried individuals, married individuals filing separate returns, and estates and trusts.
What changed this year, and why
For taxable years beginning in 2022, the IRS has announced inflation-adjusted Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) exemption amounts and the phaseout threshold for joint returns or surviving spouses under IRC § 55.
Common questions
- What is the AMT exemption amount for 2022?
- For taxable years beginning in 2022, the AMT exemption amounts are: $118,100 for joint returns or surviving spouses; $75,900 for unmarried individuals (other than surviving spouses); $59,050 for married individuals filing separate returns; and $26,500 for estates and trusts.
- At what income level does the AMT exemption begin to phase out for married couples filing jointly?
- For joint returns or surviving spouses, the AMT exemption begins to phase out when alternative minimum taxable income exceeds $1,079,800 for 2022.
- How does the AMT exemption phaseout work?
- The exemption is reduced dollar-for-dollar as a fraction of the amount by which alternative minimum taxable income exceeds the applicable phaseout threshold, until the exemption is fully phased out.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The AMT exemption left on a joint return takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
What the alternative minimum tax actually is
The alternative minimum tax is a parallel income tax that runs alongside the regular federal income tax. It targets taxpayers who benefit from specific tax preferences - such as favorable income treatments or special deductions - that would otherwise allow them to pay relatively little regular tax despite having high economic income. The AMT requires those taxpayers to recalculate their liability using a different set of rules, then pay the higher of the two amounts. Taxpayers use Form 6251 to figure whether they owe any AMT and, if so, how much. The form also produces the tentative minimum tax, which may be needed to apply certain credit limitations. In short, the AMT acts as a floor on total tax: it prevents tax preferences from reducing a higher-income taxpayer's bill below a specified minimum level.
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 (2022), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
When you have to file Form 6251
Most taxpayers do not need to worry about the AMT, but if certain conditions apply you must attach Form 6251 to your return. You are required to file the form if the tentative AMT shown on line 7 exceeds the amount on line 10. You also must attach it if you claim specific credits - including the general business credit (when the relevant lines on Form 3800 exceed zero), the qualified electric vehicle credit, the personal-use portion of the alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit, or the prior-year minimum tax credit. Additionally, if the total of your AMT adjustments and preferences on lines 2c through 3 is negative and line 7 would exceed line 10 without those items, you still must file. Even when you do not owe additional tax, completing the form may be necessary to determine credit limitations.
Attach Form 6251 to your return if any of the following statements are true. 1. Form 6251, line 7, is greater than line 10. 2. You claim any general business credit, and either line 6 (in Part I) of Form 3800 or line 25 of Form 3800 is more than zero. 3. You claim the qualified electric vehicle credit (Form 8834), the personal use part of the alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit (Form 8911), or the credit for prior year minimum tax (Form 8801). 4. The total of Form 6251, lines 2c through 3, is negative and line 7 would be greater than line 10 if you didn’t take into account lines 2c through 3.
Instructions for Form 6251 (2022), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
How the exemption is taken away as income rises
The AMT exemption shrinks as alternative minimum taxable income (AMTI) rises. Once AMTI reaches a certain ceiling, the entire exemption is eliminated and no worksheet calculation is needed. For 2022, those ceilings are $843,500 if you are single or head of household, $1,552,200 if you are married filing jointly or a qualifying surviving spouse, and $776,100 if you are married filing separately. Below those ceilings the full exemption amounts apply: $75,900 if single or head of household, $118,100 if married filing jointly or a qualifying surviving spouse, and $59,050 if married filing separately. For married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouses, the phaseout threshold - the point at which the exemption begins to be reduced - is $1,079,800. Between that threshold and the ceiling, a percentage of each additional dollar of AMTI reduces the exemption until it reaches zero. Estates and trusts have their own exemption amount of $26,500, also subject to phaseout rules.
If Form 6251, line 4, is equal to or more than $843,500 if single or head of household, $1,552,200 if married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse, or $776,100 if married filing separately, your exemption is zero. Don’t complete this worksheet; instead, enter the amount from Form 6251, line 4, on line 6 and go to line 7. 1. Enter: $75,900 if single or head of household; $118,100 if married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse; $59,050 if married filing separately
Instructions for Form 6251 (2022), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
The two AMT rates and where the second one starts
For 2022, non-corporate taxpayers face two AMT rates. The lower rate of 26% (0.26) applies to the first $206,100 of taxable excess ($103,050 if married filing separately). Any taxable excess above that threshold is taxed at the higher rate of 28% (0.28). When computing the tax on the higher bracket, the instructions require you to multiply the entire line amount by 28% and then subtract a fixed amount - $4,122 for most filers, or $2,061 if married filing separately - to arrive at the correct liability. The result is entered on line 7 of Form 6251. Taxable excess itself is the amount after subtracting the exemption from alternative minimum taxable income.
All other Form 1040-NR filers, don’t complete Part III. Instead, if Form 6251, line 6, is $206,100 or less ($103,050 or less if married filing separately), figure the amount to enter on line 7 by multiplying line 6 by 26% (0.26). Otherwise, figure the amount to enter on line 7 by multiplying line 6 by 28% (0.28) and subtracting $4,122 ($2,061 if married filing separately) from the result.
Instructions for Form 6251 (2022), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
Exercising an incentive stock option can trigger AMT the year you exercise, not the year you sell
When you exercise an incentive stock option (ISO), the spread between the exercise price and the fair market value of the stock is not treated as regular income - but it is included as an adjustment for AMT in the year you exercise. This means you may owe alternative minimum tax even though you have not yet sold the stock and received any cash from it. If you later sell the stock in a disqualifying disposition (before holding it long enough), the ordinary income recognized at sale must be reconciled against the AMT adjustment you took earlier, which can require a fix-up adjustment on Form 6251. Because the AMT is triggered at exercise, taxpayers who exercise ISOs and hold the stock should estimate their AMT liability for that year, even if no shares have been sold.
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;
Instructions for Form 6251 (2022), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
AMT you pay this year can become a credit against regular tax in a future year
If you owe alternative minimum tax in a given year, that payment is not necessarily lost. The IRS allows you to claim a Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax (Form 8801) in a future year when your regular tax exceeds your AMT. In effect, the AMT you paid becomes a credit that can reduce your regular tax liability in later years, so that over time you are not double-taxed on the same income. You may need to file Form 6251 if you claim this credit, even if you would not otherwise be required to file it, because the credit is one of the items that triggers the filing requirement. This mechanism ensures that AMT functions more as a timing adjustment - accelerating tax into earlier years - rather than as an additional permanent tax for taxpayers whose AMT was caused by deferral items rather than exclusion items.
You claim the qualified electric vehicle credit (Form 8834), the personal use part of the alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit (Form 8911), or the credit for prior year minimum tax (Form 8801).
Instructions for Form 6251 (2022), Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals (IRS)
Your tentative minimum tax caps how far certain credits can reduce your regular tax
Certain nonrefundable tax credits cannot reduce your regular tax below your tentative minimum tax. In other words, your tentative minimum tax acts as a floor: no matter how many qualifying credits you are entitled to, they cannot offset more than the amount by which your regular tax exceeds that floor. The IRS instructions tell you to figure the tax liability limit on the credits listed under Who Must File, using your tentative minimum tax (reported on Form 6251, line 9). This rule prevents taxpayers from using credits to eliminate both their regular tax and their AMT at the same time. If your regular tax is already close to your AMT, the credits may be partly or fully unusable for that year, though they may be carried forward or back under other credit-specific rules.
You may need to know that amount to figure the tax liability limit on the credits listed under Who Must File, earlier.
Instructions for Form 6251 (2022), 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. 2021-45 (IRS)
- Exemption, joint returns or surviving spouses
Joint Returns or Surviving Spouses $118,100
- Exemption, unmarried individuals
Unmarried Individuals (other than Surviving Spouses) $75,900
- Exemption, married individuals filing separate returns
Married Individuals Filing Separate Returns $59,050
- Exemption, estates and trusts
Estates and Trusts $26,500
- Exemption phaseout threshold, joint returns or surviving spouses
For taxable years beginning in 2022, the amounts used under § 55(d)(2) to determine the phaseout of the exemption amounts are: Threshold Complete Phaseout amount Phaseout amount Joint Returns or Surviving Spouses $1,079,800 $1,552,200
- Exemption phaseout threshold, unmarried individuals
Unmarried Individuals (other than $539,900 $843,500 Surviving Spouses)
- Exemption phaseout threshold, married individuals filing separate returns
Married Individuals Filing Separate $539,900 $776,100 Returns
- Exemption phaseout threshold, estates and trusts
Estates and Trusts $88,300 $194,300
- Fully phased out, joint returns or surviving spouses
Joint Returns or Surviving Spouses $1,079,800 $1,552,200
- Fully phased out, unmarried individuals
Unmarried Individuals (other than $539,900 $843,500 Surviving Spouses)
- Fully phased out, married individuals filing separate returns
Married Individuals Filing Separate $539,900 $776,100 Returns
- Fully phased out, estates and trusts
Estates and Trusts $88,300 $194,300