I try very hard not to be political in these blog posts. I also try not to speculate on what the government may or may not do as they frequently compromise in an unpredicted manner. However, I would be remise if I didn’t talk about the fact that Joseph Biden is ahead in most of […]
A Disclaimer Trust is a special type of trust often created under a Will (or as a sub-trust of a revocable living trust). In order to understand Disclaimer Trusts, you first need to understand what a disclaimer is and what happens when you make a disclaimer so that you can understand the purpose and mechanics of Disclaimer Trusts. […]
Starting January 1, 2015, the federal estate and gift tax exemption will increase from $5,340,000 per person to $5,430,000. That is an increase of $90,000. If you are married, that amount will be doubled. In addition to the lifetime estate and gift amounts, a person can also give away up to $14,000 per year. This […]
BRIEF OVERVIEW OFJAPANESE INHERITANCE AND GIFT TAXESvs.AMERICAN ESTATE AND GIFT TAXES (2014 Update) I. Estate Taxes A. America 1. If the Decedent is a Citizen or Permanent Resident Tax on Worldwide property (credit for taxes paid to foreign countries) Exemption of $5,340,000 in 2014 (indexed for inflation). For married couples, the exemption amount is $10,680,000 […]
As I gaze outside at yet another major snowstorm here in Mercer County, NJ and contemplate how nice it would be if I were visiting my folks near my Boca Raton, Florida office, I am reminded of a tax savings idea that I heard was gaining traction amongst wealthy children whose parents are still living. […]
Just a reminder, for the rest of this year, every US citizen and permanent resident alien has a $5,120,000 gift tax exemption. On January 1, 2013, regardless of who the president is, if Congress does nothing, then the gift tax exemption drops down to about $1,000,000. (Technically I think it is $1,000,000 indexed for inflation […]
When a person sells property, that person has to pay a tax on the gain from the sale. Gain is determined by subtracting the sales price of the object from the basis of such object. For example, if I sold a stock for $100 and the basis was $40, the gain would be $60. The […]
In my blog post of November 12, 2010, I made reference to a dinner bet I made with my father as to when a decision would be made on the federal estate tax issue. (Yes, Dad, I haven’t forgotten you were right and I still owe you dinner.) At that point, we were nearing the […]
Often times, a person who is on his or her deathbed will wish to make gifts to family members. Gifts are usually considered deathbed gifts if they are made within three years of a person’s death. However, except for certain transfers discussed below, when a gift is made is often irrelevent for federal estate tax […]