I’m taking a break from my review of Michael Jackson’s Trust to highlight an article on Dan Duncan, the first billionaire to die in the year with no estate tax. I wrote about Mr. Duncan back ini April, and now the New York Times has picked up the story two months later. See New York… Read More
The First Multi-Billionaire Death of 2010: The Year Without an Estate Tax Continues
I’ve written before about how 2010 is “The Year Without An Estate Tax”. You can read my past posts, but to sum up, in 2009 the estate tax exemption, that is the amount one could die with before being subject to the tax was $3.5 million, and the rate of tax for everything over that… Read More
Still No Action on the Estate Tax
It’s tough writing a blog about something that is in limbo. People are talking, others are complaining, but there’s still no real developments. As it still stands, there is no estate tax in 2010, and there is a modified carryover basis rule, as opposed to step up in basis. The estate tax is scheduled to… Read More
States Struggle to Deal with Congress’s Shameful Estate Tax Mess
The Year Without an Estate Tax continues. As I have previously written, due to Congress’s extreme irresponsibility and inability to get anything done at all, the Estate and Generation Skipping taxes are repealed in 2010, but for one year and one year only. Last December, in a post entitled, The Real Danger of the Expiring… Read More
Another Taxpayer Victory in a Family Limited Partnership Case
On February 3, 2010, the Tax Court released it’s decision in Estate of Shurtz v. Commissioner, This case is interesting for a number of reasons. First, even though it involves a family limited partnership, the case is not about the estate taking substantial discounts. In fact, the word “discount” is not even mentioned in the decision. Here,… Read More
Obama’s Budget Proposal Reinstates Estate Tax at 2009 levels
President Obama released his 2011 proposed budget yesterday. In it, the estate tax will be returned to the 2009 levels of a $3.5 million exemption and a 45% rate. Of course, a budget proposal is just that. Stay tuned
I will be attending the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning
Next week I will be attending the 44th annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning which is sponsored by the University of Miami Law School. Heckerling is a week-long conference on estate planning, administration, tax, and other related issues. This year should be especially interesting because of the current repeal of the estate tax. I hope to… Read More
Casey Johnson: Sex, Drugs, and the Estate Tax
If you read the tabloids, or even the mainstream press, you may have come across the sad tale of Casey Johnson. Johnson was one of the great-great granddaughters of Robert Wood Johnson I, and an heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune. Her father, Woody Johnson, owns the New York Jets. Johnson’s life, to… Read More
Welcome to the Year Without an Estate Tax (for now)
I honestly never believed that it would happen. I never thought that Congress would actually be this irresponsible. After all, they’ve known that it was happening since 2001. But here we are. It is 2010 and there is no estate tax. For now. What does this mean? First, remember that in 2009, the estate tax… Read More
Could the Estate Tax Really Expire?
Could the estate tax really expire? I’ve been pretty adamant in my belief that Congress won’t let that happen. I still tend to believe that they will rush through a one year extension around the 27th or so. But it’s becoming more and more possible. Stay tuned.
