Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: Line 2k is the difference between your AMT gain or loss and your regular tax gain or loss when you dispose of property. The instructions list four kinds of items to refigure: business property, casualties, ordinary income from certain dispositions, and capital gains. You enter the combined adjustment.
What line 2k asks for
The caption is “Disposition of property (difference between AMT and regular tax gain or loss)”. The instructions explain why it exists: “Your AMT gain or loss from the disposition of property may be different from your gain or loss for the regular tax.” “This is because the property may have a different adjusted basis for the AMT.”
Line 2j sits just above 2k
The line printed directly above this one on the form is line 2j, which reads “Estates and trusts (amount from Schedule K-1 (Form 1041), box 12, code A)”. The instructions have no separate paragraph headed for line 2j, so the form’s caption is the rule: take the amount from the Schedule K-1 box and code the caption names.
The four items to refigure
The instructions say “Use this line to report any AMT adjustment resulting from refiguring:” The four items are:
- “Gain or loss from the sale, exchange, or involuntary conversion of property reported on Form 4797, Sales of Business Property;”
- “Casualty gain or loss to business or income-producing property reported on Form 4684, Casualties and Thefts;”
- “Ordinary income from the disposition of property not already taken into account in (1) or (2) or on any other line on Form 6251, such as a disqualifying disposition of stock acquired in a prior year by exercising an incentive stock option;”
- “Capital gain or loss (including any carryover that is different for the AMT) reported on Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets, or Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses.”
The forms behind these are explained at Form 4797 and Form 8949.
How to figure it
“First figure any ordinary income adjustment related to (3) above.” Then: “Then refigure Form 4684, Form 4797, Form 8949, and Schedule D for the AMT, if applicable, by taking into account any adjustments you made this year or in previous years that affect your basis or otherwise result in a different amount for the AMT.”
On capital losses: “If you have a capital loss after refiguring Schedule D for the AMT, apply the $3,000 capital loss limitation separately to the AMT loss.” And “Because the amount of your gains and losses may be different for the AMT, the amount of any capital loss carryover may also be different for the AMT.” For the carryover, “To figure your AMT capital loss carryover, fill out an AMT Capital Loss Carryover Worksheet in the Schedule D instructions.”
When the entry is negative
“For each of the four items listed earlier, figure the difference between the amount included in taxable income for the regular tax and the amount included in income for the AMT.” The sign rule: “Include the difference as a negative amount on line 2k if (a) both the AMT and regular tax amounts are zero or more and the AMT amount is less than the regular tax amount or (b) the AMT amount is a loss, and the regular tax amount is a smaller loss, or is zero or more.” Then “Enter on line 2k the combined adjustments for the four items listed earlier.”
A worked example from the instructions
The instructions give an example involving an incentive stock option exercise and two sales. Their result: “You enter a total negative adjustment of $118,000 on line 2k of your 2025 Form 6251, figured as follows.” The first piece: “You figure a negative adjustment of $65,000 for the difference between the $65,000 of regular tax ordinary income and the $0 of AMT ordinary income for the first sale.” The second: “The difference between the regular tax gain of $50,000 and the $3,000 loss allowed for the AMT results in a $53,000 negative adjustment to include on line 2k.” As a computed illustration, not an IRS example, the two pieces add up as $65,000 + $53,000 = $118,000. The stock option side of that example starts on the line 2i page.
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Where the number comes from
The number comes from refiguring your Forms 4797, 4684 and 8949 and Schedule D a second time for the AMT. The instructions say “Keep records that show how you figured income, deductions, etc., for the AMT.” Depreciation on assets is on the separate line 2l page. For how a regular tax capital gain is reported, see Form 1040 line 7.
Where it goes next
Line 2k is added into line 4, which says “Combine lines 1b through 3.” The line 4 total and the adjustments after line 2k are on the lines 3 and 4 page. The overall form is on the Form 6251 page.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Form 6251 and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-18. They are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The Form 6251 header says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR.” Check the tax year printed on the form you are filling in and use the line numbers on that year’s form, because a different year’s form can number or word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Using only the regular tax gain or loss. The instructions say “Your AMT gain or loss from the disposition of property may be different from your gain or loss for the regular tax.”
- Applying the regular tax capital loss result to the AMT. The instructions say “apply the $3,000 capital loss limitation separately to the AMT loss.”
- Skipping the ordinary income piece. The instructions say “First figure any ordinary income adjustment related to (3) above.”
Related: Form 6251, Form 4797, Form 8949, Form 1040 line 7, and ISO disqualifying disposition tax.
Sources
- Instructions for Form 6251, Alternative Minimum Tax, Individuals (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i6251.pdf
- Form 6251, Alternative Minimum Tax, Individuals (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f6251.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 18, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.