Changes to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) rules The AMT is quite possibly the least popular part of the tax code. It was created by Congress to plug tax loopholes that allowed certain high-income individuals to pay practically nothing in income taxes, but because the AMT income limits weren't pegged to inflation, middle-class households have increasingly been affected by it. In essence, AMT means that you have to do your taxes twice: once using the standard tax rules and again using the AMT rules.