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The failure of Congress to deal with the repeal of the federal estate tax before 2010 and the impact of new estate taxes and generation-skipping taxes beginning January 1, 2011, has created great uncertainty and confusion for wealthy Americans and their tax advisers. A 51 page article entitled “Estate Planning In Uncertain Times: [...] Bloomberg: “Lobbyists for small businesses, construction companies, manufacturers and other trade groups are racing the clock to convince Congress to reinstate the federal estate tax they’ve fought for years to abolish. The National Federation of Independent Business and more than 40 business organizations wrote Senate and House leaders last week asking for quick [...] New York Times: “The estate tax isn’t dead. It’s resting. The tax has been eliminated for 2010, but the estates of people who die before the year is out may still not pass free and clear to their heirs. The complexities of the tax system and the likely return of the estate tax [...] Wall St. Journal: “Congress shocked everyone by letting the estate tax lapse on Jan. 1. Now, here is the real stunner: For many, the lapse actually will raise taxes.” The Hill: “Senate leaders are working on an estate tax deal to make it easier to move a bipartisan jobs bill. The deal discussed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) involves moving an estate tax bill through the Senate that would prevent a huge hike [...] A video from The Heritage Foundation called “The Death Tax Burden on American Business.” See also “Death Tax: Time to Kill It Forever.” I benefit from the death tax because I am an estate planning attorney who charges $3,500 to prepare an estate plan with a trust that will maximize federal estate tax [...] Forbes: “While the federal estate tax has temporarily lapsed for 2010, 19 states still take a bite out of their residents’ estates. Although Congress has let the federal estate tax lapse for 2010, your estate might still be subject to a state levy at your death. The feds are trying to work out [...] Dow Jones Newswire: “U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Congress should reinstate the estate tax and make it retroactive to Jan. 1 so there would be no lapse in the federal tax.” See Geithner’s statement and Baucus’ statement. Investment News: “With the federal estate tax law having lapsed — and no sign that Congress is planning to address the issue anytime soon — a growing number of states are taking matters into their own hands. Lawmakers and estate attorneys in the District of Columbia and at least 13 states, including Florida, [...] Daily Finance: “At first blush, Casey Johnson and Ruth Lilly, who died within days of each other around the new year, could hardly have been more different. Johnson . . ., who died at 30, was a party animal who lived her life in the public eye, most recently as the fiancée of [...] Steven Colbert has advice for people concerned about the federal estate tax. The Colbert Report Colbert Platinum – Estate Tax & Skull Ballot Box www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Forbes.com: “Newly released data from the Internal Revenue Service show that from 2001 to 2007, as the estate tax was reduced, the percentage of wealthy decedents leaving charitable bequests declined too. The report is stoking charities’ longstanding fear that bequests would drop off if Congress allowed the estate tax to lapse–as it did [...] Oregonlive.com: “Plenty of gallows humor got bandied around when it became clear late last month that, amazingly, Congress was going to let the nation’s estate tax lapse. Whether any enfeebled people really were kept alive until 2010 to save their fortunes from taxation . . . . But the resulting vacuum has [...] New York Times: “Death and taxes, the adage goes, are the only certainties in life. But when it comes to the combination of the two, the estate tax, there is only uncertainty for 2010. Most tax advisers thought that Congress would extend the estate tax before it was due to expire at the end of [...] New York Post: “If Fritz Lohman had only known, he would have waited another 13 hours to kick the bucket. Lohman, 87, a SoHo real-estate magnate who pioneered the exhibition of gay art, died at home at about 11 a.m. on New Year’s Eve after a long illness. If he had instead passed [...] CBSMoneyWatch.com: “At first glance, the failure of Congress to plug the 2010 estate tax loophole appears to be good news for children of ailing rich parents — and of little consequence to everyone else. But in fact, by letting the tax lapse, Congress has created a bunch of unintended consequences and increased the [...] Boston Globe: “NOT ALL deaths are sad. The federal estate tax died at 12:01 A.M. on January 1, an occasion of joy if there ever was one. Allowing it to expire was one of the few sensible things Congress accomplished in 2009. Keeping it dead should be a congressional goal for 2010. Estate-tax repeal was [...] Wall St. Journal: “Spouses of those wealthy who die next year might find themselves with nothing if the wills aren’t revised — another wrinkle of the impending repeal of the federal estate tax Friday. Starting Jan. 1, estate taxes will be repealed for 2010 only. That means unless Congress acts otherwise, there is [...] Wall S. Journal: “Nothing’s certain except death and taxes — but a temporary lapse in the estate tax is causing a few wealthy Americans to try to bend those rules. Starting Jan. 1, the estate tax — which can erase nearly half of a wealthy person’s estate — goes away for a year. For [...] Lewis & Clark law professor John A. Bogdanski published an article called “Much Ado About (a Tax) Nothing: Pierre v. Commissioner,” which discusses the case found at 36 Est. Plan. 38 (Dec. 2009). A divided Tax Court has held that gifts of interests in a single-member LLC are eligible for entity-related valuation discounts, [...] Wall St. Journal: “The health care debate is one thing, but the current situation involving the federal estate tax really makes you question if the good folks in Congress have any idea what they’re doing. By failing to act on the estate tax, lawmakers have almost assuredly planted seeds for a good bit [...] Wall St. Journal: “The possible expiration of the federal-estate tax has sent the normally staid world of estate planning into a frenzy of activity, as taxpayers try to cope with uncertainty. Without the old estate tax in place, some new rules will come into play, potentially forcing families to dig up decades-old records [...] New York Times: “A Congressional tax standoff has opened a window of opportunity for wealthy Americans determined to avoid paying up post-mortem. With lawmakers unable to agree on a year-end fix for a quirk in the Bush-era tax cuts, the federal estate tax is set to be repealed for one year as of Jan. 1, [...] Forbes: “Lawyers see litigation and administrative nightmares resulting from political impasse. Barring a last-minute political deal, the federal estate tax is set to disappear as of Jan. 1, 2010–for just one year. Democratic leaders of Congress are vowing to resurrect the tax retroactively sometime next year, but the impending lapse has estate planners [...] Bloomberg: “The imminent expiration of the federal tax on multimillion-dollar estates and a pledge by congressional Democrats to renew it retroactively next year marks a new phase in an ongoing battle over the levy. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus yesterday [December 16, 2009] said Congress will seek to restore the tax retroactively [...] Wall St. Journal: “A key Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives said he believes the estate tax will be repealed as scheduled Jan. 1, as House and Senate negotiators tried to strike a deal on a two-month extension to block repeal of the tax. Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D., N.D.) said plans to [...] Washington Times: “Battles under way in Congress and the courts. As the end of 2009 draws near, Congress is racing to meet self-imposed deadlines to pass a climate bill and health care reform by the end of the year. But the clock is running out on another serious issue if Congress doesn’t do [...] Washington Business Journal: “The House passed legislation that would permanently extend this year’s estate tax rates and exemptions, but the Senate may not act on the bill before Jan. 1. If an estate tax bill isn’t enacted by then, the federal tax on inherited assets would go away in 2010. The tax, [...] Wall St. Journal: “In less than three weeks, the hated death tax is scheduled to expire—with the rate falling from 45% to zero for 2010. Then the tax will be resurrected in 2011 at a rate of 55%. This bizarre policy dates back to 2001 when Democrats wouldn’t let President Bush permanently kill [...] OMB Watch: “On Dec. 3, the House passed the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009 (H.R. 4154). With time running short, the bill now moves to the Senate, where straight passage of it is uncertain, and passage of any estate tax legislation is anything but assured. [...] |
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