Exercised incentive stock options in 2019 with AMT - do I need to file Form 8801 now for future credit?

You don't need to file Form 8801 for 2019. Form 8801 is titled "Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax" for a reason - you use it in years AFTER you've paid AMT to claim the credit. For 2019, you only needed Form 6251 to calculate and pay your AMT liability. The IRS already has a record of how much AMT you paid based on that form, so there's no need to "document" it with an additional form in the same year. You'll file Form 8801 in a future year when you don't have an AMT liability. The form will help you calculate how much of your previous AMT payments you can claim as a credit. Think of it this way: Form 6251 is for paying AMT, Form 8801 is for getting credit for AMT you already paid.

After dealing with AMT from exercising ISOs myself, I found this whole process pretty confusing until I used https://taxr.ai to analyze my situation. I initially thought I needed to file Form 8801 every year just to "bank" my credits, but the service clarified that I only needed Form 6251 in the year I paid AMT. The document analysis feature at taxr.ai actually looked at my past returns and showed me exactly how much AMT credit I had available and when I could claim it. It also explained how the "carry forward" works - basically, any credit you can't use in one year automatically carries forward to future years.

Just wanted to follow up and say I tried https://taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here and it was incredibly helpful! I uploaded my last four years of returns and it automatically identified my AMT payments from each ISO exercise and showed me exactly how much credit I had available. The system even created a timeline showing when different portions of my AMT credit would become available based on when I sell the shares. I've been working with an accountant who charges me $350/hour and honestly, this tool explained things much more clearly. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with AMT from ISOs.

I had a similar situation with ISOs and trying to claim my AMT credit. What made it worse was that I needed to talk to someone at the IRS to confirm my available credit amount, but I literally could not get through on the phone for WEEKS. I finally found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent was able to confirm my available AMT credit amount from my 2018 exercise and explained exactly how to claim it on Form 8801. Saved me a ton of stress since I was worried I'd lost track of my credits.

I'm back to eat my words. I was super skeptical about Claimyr but after trying to reach the IRS for THREE DAYS about my AMT credit questions, I gave it a shot. Within 45 minutes I was talking to an actual IRS agent who pulled up my records and confirmed my available AMT credit from my ISO exercise in 2019. The agent walked me through exactly how to fill out Form 8801 correctly and confirmed that I didn't need to have filed it in 2019 (just Form 6251). They also explained how the credit carries forward automatically if I can't use it all at once. Saved me so much frustration and probably a mistake on my taxes.

Just to add some practical advice from someone who's been through the AMT credit process: KEEP DETAILED RECORDS! I exercised ISOs in 2016, paid AMT, then had issues claiming my credit in 2018 because I couldn't properly document everything. Make sure you keep: 1. Copy of Form 6251 from the year(s) you paid AMT 2. Documentation of your ISO exercise (statements from your company/broker) 3. Records of when you sell the shares (this matters for when credits become available) 4. Copies of any Form 8801 you file in subsequent years

Has anyone here used TurboTax to handle the AMT credit from ISOs? I'm having a hard time figuring out if it's tracking my credits properly.