by Arthur Geffen | Jul 10, 2015 | DSUE, Estate Tax, Portability
Administering an estate is never a joyous task, but it is a necessary one. We usually want to get it behind us as quickly as we can in order to move on with life’s business. Yet for reasons known only to itself, the Internal Revenue Service has just added a new...
by Arthur Geffen | Apr 16, 2015 | Estate Tax
The U.S. House voted to repeal the 99-year-old U.S. estate tax amid a partisan clash over whether the government should break up concentrated wealth or make it easier to pass along assets to the next generation. The House passed the bill 240-179 Thursday. The...
by Arthur Geffen | Oct 31, 2014 | Estate Tax, Gift Tax
The Internal Revenue Service announced the 2015 estate and gift tax limits today, and the federal estate tax exemption rises to $5.43 million per person, and the annual gift exclusion amount stays at $14,000. These numbers, adjusted annually for inflation,...
by Arthur Geffen | Apr 22, 2014 | Estate Tax, Portability
Approximately 15 states have their own state estate taxes. Many of these states have exemption amounts that are less than the federal applicable exclusion amount. For example, the District of Columbia and Maryland have exemption amounts of $1 million, and New...
by Arthur Geffen | Apr 9, 2014 | Estate Tax
BE GLAD YOU DO NOT LIVE OR DIE IN NEW YORK YOUR ESTATE TAX COULD BE 164% Congratulations, New Yorkers! It now costs you money to die. Okay, not really. But it’s an eye-grabbing headline, no? There is a kernel of truth to it, and that’s the ironic thing....
by Arthur Geffen | Feb 17, 2014 | Estate Tax, Portability
The IRS has offered (Rev. Proc. 2014-18) estates of decedents dying before 2014 relief for missed “portability” elections. Estates of decedents with a surviving spouse may elect under Section 2010(c) to permit the surviving spouse to use the...
