family
Preserve estate tax portability
Monday, October 24th, 2011 | tax | No Comments
To preserve estate tax portability, executors must file Form 706 Estate Tax Return for decedents dying in 2011 and later. The nine month filing deadline may be extended an additional six months. This election is not available for decedents dying before 2011.
In the law reinstating the estate tax in 2010, Congress established an exclusion amount of $5 million per person in 2011 (adjusted for inflation in future years). An estate with a taxable value below this amount is not subject to federal tax (the limit remains at $1 million in Tennessee). The law also provided for any unused exclusion amount to be passed on to the surviving spouse. The election to do so is made, and the amount is established, by timely filing an estate tax return for the decedent. The return must be filed even though it may not be otherwise required under the estate tax rules.
In a common scenario, the estate assets of the first spouse to die are transferred to the surviving spouse, either through joint ownership with right of survivorship or by will. This may result in accumulation of assets in the surviving spouse’s estate that would exceed the $5 million exclusion, resulting in estate tax liability. The portability election allows the unused exclusion amount of the first spouse to die to be added to that of the second to die, sheltering additional assets from estate tax.
This election is a new estate planning tool that can help a family preserve its assets. Good estate planning may reduce or eliminate the need to take advantage of the portability election. If your family has substantial assets such as a family business or investments, you may benefit from a discussion with an accountant and an attorney who are both familiar with estate planning and tax reduction techniques, as we are. If a loved one passed away in 2011, timing is critical to preserving the estate tax portability election.
Tort reform in effect in TN
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 | consulting, litigation | No Comments
Tennessee’s tort reform law went into effect on October 1, 2011. It places caps on non-economic damages and punitive damages except in certain egregious cases.
Governor Haslam and legislative sponsors tout the increased predictability that the new law will bring to businesses aiming to quantify risk. They say it brings Tennessee on par with other Southeastern states, which will enhance recruitment of businesses to the state.
We anticipate that it will help existing businesses too, as insurers adjust their risk analysis for the new environment. That may bring liability insurance rates down, which would be a welcome relief to small business owners. Consult your insurer and let him or her know you are watching how their company responds to the reforms now in place.
This law follows the 2008 medical tort reform law that sponsors say has reduced non-meritorious claims by 50%.
Insurance is a useful tool to help you protect your business and personal assets from catastrophe. Our firm chooses not to sell insurance, investments, or other financial products. This frees us to give you unbiased insight into the use of insurance and other financial tools for the betterment of your company and family.
Next IRS target - generous relatives
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 | tax | No Comments
Generous relatives may be the next targets of IRS hunting expeditions. The IRS has asked a federal judge for a “John Doe” summons on the California Board of Equalization to force the board to turn over records of property transfers for little or no consideration. They are looking for people who have not paid gift tax on transfers of property to relatives between 2005 and 2010.
The Tax Code allows the transfer of up to $13,000 annually from one family member to another. Husband and wife can combine to give up to $26,000 a year. For each gift larger than that, the giver must file a Form 709 gift tax return. The giver, not the recipient, is liable for gift tax. Each taxpayer enjoys a lifetime gift tax exemption of a million dollars, making gifts up to that amount free of federal tax. But cumulative gifts over a lifetime must be accounted for in the estate tax calculation of the giver. If gift tax is owed but not paid by the giver, then the liability shifts to the recipient.
Property tax records and registered deeds are public records available for viewing by anyone. The IRS has been quietly gathering compliance information for some time, assisted by many states and counties who have voluntarily disclosed their property transfer data. The summons in California is one of the boldest attempts yet in the IRS effort to ferret out non-compliant taxpayers. Over the years, gift tax audits have been few and far between, but that could change as the IRS begins matching property transfer records with taxpayers.
If you are worried about the implications this may have for your family, please contact us. We can shed light on your situation and help keep the IRS gift tax target off of you.
Better Property Settlement in Divorce
Friday, August 20th, 2010 | litigation, tax | No Comments
We’ve heard it said that the second most contentious issue in a divorce (after the children) is the property settlement. One side may resort to unusual measures to reduce the property settlement, while the other side may be seeking revenge or punishment through the property settlement. The intense emotions complicate the process of determining an equitable settlement.
We provide services to attorneys in all types of cases with financial issues. They may involve valuation of a family business, forensic accounting to aid in the process of ascertaining what assets are available for the settlement, and calculation of the needs of the spouse and children for maintenance and support. We also advise about the tax implications of various settlement options. Answers to all of these questions are vital in coming to an equitable settlement.
Our role varies with each case. For example, in a recent case, we assisted with discovery by ascertaining the true value of some marital assets and performing due diligence on the couple’s finances. With this improved information, the attorney was able to negotiate a significantly better settlement for his client than the initial offer. This is just one of the many ways we help improve results for our clients.
Steinbrenner’s estate tax feat
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 | tax | No Comments
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner’s death this week is a sad occasion for his family and friends. But because it happened this year, it resulted in a huge tax savings for his heirs. As explained in this Wall Street Journal article, the 2001 Bush tax cuts left a quirky Federal estate tax repeal for this year only. Congress did nothing to fix this anomaly.
With Mr. Steinbrenner’s estate estimated at $1.1 billion, that means his heirs will inherit as much as $600 million that would have gone into the Federal treasury, based on the rate when the estate tax resumes in 2011 (55% maximum on estates over $1 million). He joins another high-profile billionaire whose passing we wrote about a few weeks ago.
Here’s a morbid thought: Will death become the ultimate tax-planning tool this year? I shudder at the thought.
Payroll tax credit
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 | tax | No Comments
It is time to prepare your second quarter payroll tax returns, due August 2, 2010 (July 31 falls on Saturday). If your company or tax-exempt organization has hired employees this year, you may be eligible for the HIRE Act new hire tax credit. You should check before filing Form 941. We previously posted about this and other tax credits in the spring.
Here is a checklist (but consult your tax adviser for specifics related to your situation):
- Was the new worker hired to fill a new position, or to replace someone who quit voluntarily or who was terminated for cause? The new worker may not be related to you or to another owner of the business.
- Was he/she hired after February 3, 2010, and before January 1, 2011?
- Did he/she work less than 40 hours during the 60 days ending on the hire date?
- Did he/she sign and give you the required Form W-11 certifying these facts? (Do not send this form to the IRS.)
If all of the above conditions are met, you qualify for an exemption of 6.2% (the employer share of Social Security tax) of wages paid between March 19 and December 31, 2010. This reduces the amount of your tax deposits for this year. It does not affect amounts withheld from the employee’s pay.
Form 941 has been modified to report wages to qualified employees starting with the second quarter. The IRS has provided more information in the instructions to the forms, and in a question-and-answer format at their website.
Death, But No Taxes
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 | tax | No Comments
Even though the federal estate tax only affected about 5500 decedents in 2009 before it was repealed for one year, Congress’s inaction in reversing the repeal has cost the government big money, even by their standards. In this New York Times story, we learned that Houston’s richest man died last spring. Dan L. Duncan was a natural gas tycoon (EPCO, Dan Duncan L.L.P., Enterprise GP Holdings) whose fortune was estimated by Forbes at $9 billion, ranking him number 74 among the wealthiest in the world. If he had died in 2009, his estate would have paid up to $4 billion in taxes; in 2011, that amount might have risen to $5 billion. This year, his estate passes tax-free to his wife, children, grandchildren, and various charities.
If and when his heirs were to sell some of the assets, the substantial gains would be taxed at rates ranging from the current 15% capital gains rate to the maximum income tax rate, which is still lower than the estate tax rate. But that could be many years in the future. In the meantime, the federal government has missed out on perhaps as much as $25 billion of revenue (the estate tax take in 2008).
There are strong and valid arguments on both sides of the estate tax issue, from political, economic, and humanitarian points of view. The plain fact is that this is one revenue stream for the federal budget that dried up for this year. Care to guess who they will tap to make that up?
The federal estate tax returns in 2011 for estates valued at $1 million, if Congress leaves current law intact. (The cutoff in Tennessee has been $1 million for several years, and was unaffected by the federal law.)
Savvy estate planning can help your family keep more of its assets and minimize the tax liability. We were part of a team of professionals who reduced a family’s taxable estate through good planning from about $8 million to about $2 million, saving them a $3 million tax hit that would have forced them to sell all of their real estate holdings into a depressed market.
Best Place to Raise a Family
Thursday, June 10th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
We’re proud to call Knoxville home. It’s not perfect, but it’s a pretty darn good place to live and do business. We’re pleased to be ranked in the top ten out of the largest 100 metropolitan areas by Forbes magazine. The authors looked at cost of living, prevalence of home ownership, median household income, housing costs, commute time, crime, and the percentage of young adults that graduate high school to rank our fine city number eight as one of America’s best places to raise a family. We’re pleased to receive this national recognition to go with our other high rankings over the past few years.