In 1969, Congress created the alternative minimum tax (AMT) to ensure wealthy Americans did not avoid paying their federal income tax by taking large deductions. Unfortunately, the AMT has not been adjusted for inflation over the years, and therefore, the tax was scheduled to affect middle-income tax filers this year - to the tune of about 21 million additional taxpayers - unless Congress enacted a hold-harmless patch.

Historically, Congress has increased or extended the AMT exemption three times since 2001. The last extension expired at the end of 2006 and that was the problem.

On Dec. 19, 2007, the House approved an AMT patch, (HR 3996) with a 352 to 64 vote, and the President signed the bill into law on Dec. 26.

The good news is that now an additional 21 million middle-income taxpayers will not be hit by the AMT.

Professional tax preparers like H&R Block use proprietary in-office software that automatically calculates both the taxpayer's AMT and regular tax liability. H&R Block's TaxCut software, TaxCut online programs and Tango™ also perform these calculations automatically.

All taxpayers can file now.

The IRS has revised the tax forms and updated their computer systems to accept the AMT-related credits. The five forms previously affected included: Form 1040A's Schedule 2 Child and Dependent Care Expenses, Form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits), Form 8396 (Mortgage Interest Credit), Form 8859 (District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyers Credit), and Form 8863 (Education Credits).

E-filing and requesting direct deposit is always the fastest option to receive your refund. Refunds to taxpayers that choose this option averages 8 to 15 days versus 6 to 8 weeks with a paper return and mailed check.

The IRS is reminding taxpayers that printed tax packages which began arriving in mailboxes around New Year's, went to the printer before the AMT changes were enacted and reflect the law in effect at the time of printing. The individual income tax packages mailed to taxpayers don't include any tax credit forms and certain other forms due to late tax law changes involving the AMT "patch."

Taxpayers using paper forms can visit IRS.gov to get updated copies of AMT forms, or for those taxpayers who use tax software to print out paper copies of tax forms, you should make sure you update your software before printing out the forms.