On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which retains most of the estate and gift tax laws in effect in 2012.
The New Laws
Highlights of the Act include:
● The estate tax, gift tax and generation skipping tax exemptions of $5M have been retained. (Actually, the exemption is now $5.25M per spouse by reason of inflationary adjustments.) Continue reading
If you are a married and need a simple will that minimizes or eliminates estate taxes, consider using a “disclaimer will.” It provides “wait and see” flexibility on whether to use tax planning trusts when the first spouse dies. Continue reading
Some contend that Oregon’s estate tax is the death knell for family businesses, especially farms. Don’t believe it. Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Code is harsh on its treatment of transfers of wealth to or by nonresident aliens. But the US-Canada tax treaty provides relief to Canadians.
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Pursuant to Revenue Procedure 2011-52, the IRS has announced that the estate tax exemption will be $5,120,000 for deaths occurring in 2012. The lifetime gift tax exemption will also increase to $5,120,000 in 2012.
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