Another Estate Tax Deadline Looming

By November 15, 2011, an important estate planning decision must be reached: either opt to have the imposed federal estate tax rate reached last year by President Obama and Congressional Republicans, or opt out. If you opt-in, then assets on your estate are subject to a 35% tax rate after the first 5 million dollars;…

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Federal Estate and Gift Tax Changes

The tax legislation enacted in late 2010 has five significant components: 1)      The federal estate tax exemption for individuals dying in 2011 and 2012, is $5 million with a federal estate tax rate of 35%.  Beneficiaries  who receive assets from individuals dying in 2011 and 2012 will receive a ‘step up” in bases to the…

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Are My Life Insurance Proceeds Taxable?

In most instances, life insurance proceeds are income tax free to the beneficiary but are taxable to your estate if you owned the policy on your life or retained any “incidents of ownership” such as the right to change the beneficiaries or borrow against the policy.  If this is the case, the life insurance proceeds…

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The Estate Tax Conundrum

The Boston Globe recently reported that tax cuts remnant from the Bush administration imposed no estate taxes in 2010.

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