The personal AMT feature helps you identify years when a client may pay alternative minimum tax and see how that tax affects the plan. It also projects when AMT generated in the plan may be recovered.
Note: This supports personal AMT for the client and partner in provinces and territories other than Quebec. It does not calculate corporate or trust AMT.
Turn on the AMT calculation
In a plan, go to Assumptions > Base Assumptions, select Include Personal AMT Calculation (except QC) (beta), and save your changes.
You can also make this the default for new plans in your firm-level Base Assumptions. The setting can still be changed within an individual plan.
How the projection works
For each person and projection year, the plan calculates income tax twice:
Under the regular income tax rules.
Under the AMT rules, which include more income and allow fewer deductions and credits.
If the AMT result is higher, the difference is added to tax payable as federal and provincial AMT. The federal AMT amount is added to a carryforward balance that may be used in a later year when regular tax is higher than AMT.
Carryforwards expire after seven years, and the oldest amounts are used first.
Review AMT in the plan
Years with AMT are marked by an Alternative Minimum Tax icon on the income chart. Hover over the icon to see the total federal and provincial AMT for that year.
For more detail, go to Details > Cash Flow Details. The most useful rows are:
Regular Tax: Tax calculated under the regular rules, before AMT.
Taxable Income (AMT): Taxable income recalculated under the AMT rules.
Non-Refundable Tax Credits Used (AMT): Credits allowed in the AMT calculation.
Federal Min Tax Threshold (AMT): Federal minimum tax calculated under the AMT rules and compared with regular federal tax.
Federal/Provincial AMT: The additional tax payable because AMT is higher.
Tax Deducted (with AMT/AMT Credits): Final modelled tax after current-year AMT or the use of an AMT carryforward.
AMT Carryforward Used: Prior AMT recovered in the current year.
Federal AMT Carryforward Balance: Federal AMT still available to recover in future years.
Client and partner amounts are calculated and displayed separately.
What can cause AMT in the projection?
AMT is most likely to appear in years with large capital gains, use of the lifetime capital gains exemption, or donations of appreciated securities. The projection applies the following key treatments:
100% of most capital gains are included, rather than the regular 50% inclusion.
30% of gains sheltered by the lifetime capital gains exemption are included.
30% of the gain on donated securities is included.
Only half of certain deductions are recognized, including modelled management fees, debt interest, and enhanced CPP or QPP deductions.
Capital-loss carryforwards used against gains are reduced for the AMT calculation.
80% of federal donation credits and 50% of most other modelled non-refundable federal credits are recognized.
For 2026, the projection uses a federal AMT exemption of $181,440 and a federal rate of 20.5%. The exemption is increased in future projection years using the plan's Government Inflation assumption.
Important considerations
Provincial AMT is estimated as a province-specific percentage of federal AMT.
Quebec provincial AMT is not modelled yet.
The feature calculates personal AMT only, not corporate or trust AMT.
AMT may be recoverable, but recovery is not guaranteed. Any balance that cannot be used within seven years expires.
Use the AMT results to compare planning strategies such as spreading capital gains or donations across years and creating opportunities to recover AMT before it expires.