Snap! AMT Bites Tax Preparers

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This just in from the nation's capital: Congress took even longer than usual fixing the alternative minimum tax (AMT) this year. As a result, the Infernal Revenue Service is going to need a bit more time to reprogram its computers to account for the changes in tax arcana.

Result: Up to 13.5 million taxpayers who file one or more of the five AMT-related tax forms must wait until Feb. 11 to make their 2007 tax filings. The good news here is that if taxpayers hew to their usual procrastinating habits, the IRS estimates that most AMT payers won't even notice the glitch. Most of us don't file before mid-February anyway, so only 3 million or 4 million taxpayers will actually be filing later than usual.

What's it mean to you?
As a taxpayer, it means one of three things: (1) Nothing (2) "Congratulations! You're rich enough to have to worry about the AMT!" or (3) The last-minute extra work for the IRS might end up delaying your refund.

As an investor in Intuit (Nasdaq: INTU), H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), or Jackson Hewitt (NYSE: JTX), it means you should get ready to see at least some drop-off in revenues for the quarter ending Jan. 31. For Intuit, that means fiscal Q2 revenues could take a hit as some taxpayers delay, pushing their filings into fiscal Q3. For Block and Jackson Hewitt, same deal -- except it will be fiscal Q3 revenues getting pushed into fiscal Q4.

Either way, don't fret if you see the January quarter's revenues take a hit. Those missing revenues should reappear in three months' time.