Legacy Planning
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Revocable Living Trusts – Do They Save Estate Taxes?
Nick Houle, one of our Estate Planning partners in our Minneapolis office, gave an one hour presentation on estate tax planning at the South Dakota Soybean Association annual meeting in Sioux Falls, SD yesterday. I attended the event with Nick and talked to many farmers about succession and estate planning. One of the questions that […]
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File Your Gift Tax Return
I am in Chicago for a Firm Tax Partner meeting today and tomorrow and then head to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the annual South Dakota Soybean Association meeting. One of my partners is speaking at this meeting on estate taxes and we have a booth at the show. If there are any readers that […]
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Senator Baucus Urges Extension of Current Estate Tax Laws
The current lifetime estate exemption is $5.12 million (indexed with inflation). This lifetime exemption is scheduled to be reduced to $1 million with a top rate of 55% on January 1, 2013. President Obama has proposed to reduce the exemption to $3.5 million with a top rate of 45%. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus […]
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What’s The Right Trust For Me?
We received the following question from a reader: “Which type of estate trusts do you recommend or prefer, revocable or irrevocable, and why ?” Since this a blog, it would be impossible to fully answer this question, but I am going to give some of my general feedback on this question. First, a revocable trust […]
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Updated 2013 Estate and Gift Tax Inflation Adjustments
The IRS recently released Revenue Procedure 2012-41 that outlined all of the inflation adjusted items contained in the tax laws. There were a couple of provisions related to gift and estate taxes that apply to farmers. Beginning in 2013, you can now give up to $14,000 any individual(s) during the year and not have to […]
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2012 Interest Rates for Special Use Valuation
The IRS today posted Revenue Ruling 2012-26 which lists the applicable interest rates (go to page 3 of release for the actual ruling) available if an estate elects Special Use Valuation in valuing farmland. Special Use Valuation allows an estate comprised primarily of farmland (or other qualified business property) to elect to value the farmland […]
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Mistakes to Avoid in Lifetime Giving – Final
This post has our final mistakes to avoid in doing lifetime giving: If you are doing Medicaid planned gifts, remember that all transfers for less than FMV are subject to a lookback period of 60 months. Avoid gifts of installment contracts to anyone other than a spouse. A disposition, which a gift is, will result […]
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Mistakes to Avoid in Lifetime Giving – Part 2
We continue our series on mistakes to avoid in lifetime giving: Be aware of the Generation-skipping Transfer tax on any gifts that may involve your grandchildren. These gifts can subject you to additional gift taxes that you may not realize apply when you make the gift. Any gifts in excess of $13,000 to these beneficiaries […]
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Mistakes to Avoid In Lifetime Giving – Part 1
Lifetime giving of appreciating assets is one great tool to use to prevent unnecessary estate taxes. However, if done incorrectly, these gifts can prove costly. I will do a multi-series post on some of the mistakes to watch out for in the next few days: If you will pay for someone’s education or medical costs, […]
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IRS Required Interest Rates Drop Even Lower
Every month the IRS posts a listing of the required interest rates that parties must put into loan contracts to prevent imputing of interest. For several months, these rates have been dropping lower and lower. For the month of August, short-term notes (less than 3 years) now require an interest rate of .25%. Mid-term loans […]