Democrats protest corporate AMT loopholes

A group of mostly Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticizing recent moves to ease the corporate alternative minimum tax for large corporations in two recent notices.

The letter was from Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, Angus King, I-Maine, John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, and Rep. Don Beyer, D-Virginia, writing to Bessent protesting recent guidance on the CAMT, a 15% tax on corporations with over $1 billion in adjusted financial statement income that was included as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

They noted that prior to enactment of the CAMT, companies worth billions of dollars would often pay little or no federal income tax. Recently, the Trump administration issued two new interim guidance notices that could erode the CAMT.

"These notices will allow major corporations to circumvent the law by using accounting trickery to pay zero taxes on their massive profits," wrote the senators.

One of the notices, Notice 2025-27, issued in June, allows companies to avoid CAMT if their income — under a simplified accounting method — is below $800 million. That threshold, changed with no explanation, is significantly higher than the Biden administration's threshold of $500 million, allowing more wealthy corporations to escape CAMT liability. The notice opens the possibility of future potential erosion of the CAMT tax base by saying the Treasury and the IRS will reconsider the treatment of unrealized capital gains.

The other notice, Notice 2025-28, issued in July, would create additional complexity for tax administrators, according to the lawmakers, and opens the risk of enabling gaming and inconsistent outcomes across similarly situated taxpayers.

"These notices weaken CAMT under the cover of bureaucratic rulemaking and give the largest and wealthiest corporations yet another get-out-of-paying-taxes-free card," said the lawmakers. "We are seriously concerned that this cursory loosening of CAMT enforcement will simply allow more wealthy corporations to avoid paying their legally owed share."

They pointed out that CAMT was left in place following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, so the Trump administration is still required to implement CAMT consistent with congressional intent.

"We urge the IRS to rescind Notice 2025-27 and Notice 2025-28 and finalize the Biden administration's proposed CAMT regulations without delay," concluded the senators.