Estate Taxes
Gifts to Grandchildren.. Watch out. There is ANOTHER Tax to Consider!
While we may have heard of the estate tax and, of course, the income tax, many of us have never heard of the generation transfer skipping tax (GSTT). This tax is imposed on gifts to grandchildren and was imposed to prevent very wealthy families from keeping assets in...
Beware… the IRS “Secret” Lien
Many attorneys rely exclusively on the Internal Revenue Code as the “bible” for tax law. However, many other provisions in the United States Code apply to taxes and one is the “secret lien”, secret only because there is no filing or notice other than Section 3713 of...
URGENT… Plan for Using Estate and Gift Tax Exemption in 2012
As many of you already know 2013 is going to be a year of change in the tax world… Until December 31, 2012 you can make tax free gifts of up to 5,120,000 but on January 1, 2013 tax free gifts will be limited to 1,000,000. That is HUGE. If your estate is well under...
What IS our administration thinking about estate tax? What to look forward to in 2015!
Recently the Administration released its fiscal year 2015 revenue proposals that will affect taxpayers. The following summarizes some of the items: (1). Exemption of IRA owners of having to take minimum required distributions after 70 1/2 if their IRA benefits do not...
IRS Publishes Proposed Regulations on Basis Consistency Requirements… What Does It Mean to You?
I recently posted a blog about the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) new basis consistency requirements. On March 4, 2016 the IRS published related proposed regulations. Remember this law (Section 1014(f) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”)) requires a...
Portability and Blended Families…May Not Be A Good Mix!
Portability has been discussed in a prior blog but as the federal statute is fairly new, case law has been scarce. A recent Oklahoma Supreme Court (the “Court”) case has lawyers rethinking prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and the drafting of estate planning...
Improper GSTT Exemption Allocation…IRS Grants Relief!
The generation skipping transfer tax (“GSTT”) is a harsh tax (40%) imposed on certain transfers to grandchildren and certain individuals in that same generation. Fortunately, the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) provides a GSTT basic exclusion amount (the...
Amending Documents? Do Not Forget to Adjust Plan for Estate Taxes…
With the applicable exclusion amount of $5.490 million, many individuals’ estates will not be subject to estate tax. However, if you have a taxable estate, then determining whom will pay the estate taxes is critical. The recent case, Bandy v. Clancy, featured the...
Were you late in claiming your deceased spouse’s estate tax exemption?
As discussed here before the exemption for the estate tax is now “portable” between husband and wife. For example, if a husband dies in 2014 using $2 million of his exemption instead of the full estate tax exemption of $5.340 million, then the surviving spouse could...
Probate Court Looking for An Estate Tax Closing Letter? IRS Provides Alternative!
Form 706, Federal united States Estate (and Generation Skipping Transfer) Tax Return is required for taxable estates. If the estate is also subject to probate, then an “estate tax closing letter” is filed with the probate court. This letter confirms that all estate...