Estate Tax-Federal Estate Tax

That Marvelous Ape asked:


John McCain, June 11, 2002:
“I am concerned that repeal of the estate tax would provide massive benefits solely to the wealthiest and highest-income taxpayers in the country. A Treasury Department study found that almost no estate tax has been paid by lower- and middle-income taxpayers. But taxes have been paid on the estates of people who were in the highest 20% of the income distribution at the time of their death. It found that 91% of all estate taxes are paid by the estates of people whose annual income exceeded $190,000 around the time of their death.”

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=24421

John McCain today:
“The estate tax is one of the most unfair tax laws on the books”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/us/politics/10text-mccain.html?pagewanted=all

Georgianne Greenhalge

Mirabelle Jenkins (R-VT) asked:


I’m willing to bet you the Democrats here and in Congress will go nuts for that idea.

Bernie Shempert

AngelSea asked:


I am the executor of my mother’s estate which consists of 3 bank accounts in my three nieces names, all three accounts earned interest less than $600 combined. Is it necessary for me to file 1041? and how do they claim the little interest they received since the accounts are in a tax id number, not their social security numbers(two are minors). thanks
the interest received from the bank, is in the estate name AND also in my nieces names as beneficiaries, with EIN numbers I had to obtain for them by the IRS. so they don’t have to claim this interest on their 1040? (one niece doesn’t work she is a minor, the other minor has a parttime job, and the non-minor is a college student)

Nathaniel Royce

fierce13@att.net asked:


mother missing out of country 7+years. only estate is SS payments / minimal insurance need tax info on monies appx 150.000.00 . i have only her $ when received, and dont know how to deal with IRS- i know i can deduct lawyer and bondsman bills. then what?

Rubin Fergerson

aLLIE? asked:


The rate on assessment in Marion County is 35%. The tax is rate is 81.31 mills. What is the real estate tax on a piece of property that has a market value of $38,500?

A. $2000
B. 41187.55
C. $1095.65
D. $1299.88

Jamey Caissie

fled asked:


Does the total value become immediately taxable for the estate, or is there another option?
I’ll put it another way. If I make my estate the beneficiary of my IRA, what tax action occurs?

Abbie Wynkoop

Laura7777 asked:


Do heirs have to pay income tax on what they receive as their share in the estate, even if the estate itself has no estate tax liability?

Thanks in advance.

Andrew Jeancy

Falafel & Loofah Aficionado asked:


If your estate is valued at less than $3.5 million ($7 million for couples), you will not be subject to the estate tax. Your taxes on accumulated capital gains are forgiven (normally the act of passing an asset to a family member would be subject to capital gains tax — but when you die you do NOT pay this), which is in essence a “death subsidy”.

The GOP seems to think that the estate tax unfairly targets the wealthy. This includes fewer than 80 farms and small businesses, and does not apply to 99% of Americans.

Would a conservative-friendly alternative to the estate tax be to apply the capital gains tax to assets passed from the deceased to others? If they were to transfer the very same assets while alive, the capital gains tax would apply.

Source: The Brookings Institution

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2003/0727taxes_gale.aspx

The average rate that an estate is taxed is about 20%. Bush-era capital gains tax rates were 15%, and Obama seeks to raise this to 20%.
Source on capital gains taxes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_gains_tax_in_the_United_States

Ashley –
Actually, some things, like captial gains are NOT taxed before death. If you own stock, and pass it to your kid when you die, the gains on the stock have never been taxed.

Sterling Dove

Daniel J asked:


Hello, I’ve done research a bit and I am interested to buy tax liens in Michigan, what place do you suggest me to start asking?

Joyce

btwitkin asked:


My mother passed away in April. All we are waiting for is our accountant to finalize the NY state estate tax return form(s) so we can disburse funds. We do not want to disburse any funds until we know this.

The estate was over 1 million, so we know there are taxes to be paid.

How long does this normally take?

Pablo Roosevelt