what is form 6251 alternative minimum tax individuals 
form 6251 alternative minimum tax individuals is an internal revenue service irs tax form used to determine the amount of alternative minimum tax amt that a taxpayer may owe some taxpayers with higher incomes can claim certain deductions that allow them to reduce their regular tax obligation the amt sets an upper limit on how much that deduction can be as a way of ensuring that wealthier individuals pay an adequate amount of taxes if you are among those to whom it applies you ll pay the amt instead of standard income taxes understanding form 6251 alternative minimum tax individualseach taxpayer must evaluate whether or not they must pay amt each year depending on your income level you may not need to the amt is a tax system parallel to the regular income tax it was enacted in 1969 and was originally designed to identify and collect taxes owed by a limited number of wealthy individuals and families who were otherwise avoiding income taxes 5it does this by limiting the number of itemized deductions that can be claimed by a taxpayer deductions for state and local taxes are not allowed for example in addition taxpayers impacted by the amt cannot take the standard deduction 6the amt has two rates 26 and 28 versus the seven federal tax brackets which range from 10 to 37 74