What is the Estate Tax Exemption?
In certain instances – especially if you have amassed an extremely large estate – you’ll have to pay an estate tax when you transfer real property or other monetary assets to your heirs when you die.
What are the Advantages of Financial Planning?
Financial planning is imperative to make sure your finances are in order while you are alive, and also to convey your wishes for assets after your death. However, a 2022 study showed that only 29% of surveyed Americans have a written financial plan. With the uncertainties in life, if you don’t have a plan, now is the time to get started.
What Does a Qualified Investment Mean?
Are you contributing to a retirement plan with your employer? If so, then you are likely utilizing a qualified investment. Qualified investments include 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), SEP-IRA, and SIMPLE IRA plans. These plans follow IRS rules and restrictions. They also have tax benefits. Keep reading to see what these plans are all about.
What is a Credit Shelter Trust?
Affluent couples with large estates may choose to set up credit shelter trusts in an attempt to preserve generational wealth and pass high-net-worth assets onto their heirs without having to pay estate taxes.
Can Selling a Conservation Easement Count for a 1031 Exchange?
A conservation easement is an agreement between the landowner and another entity (usually a government agency but potentially a nonprofit organization) that limits specified development activity on the property. Typically, the purpose is to protect some aspect of the land, possibly recreational or scenic attributes, historical value, or geologic or ecological sensitivity. Often the easement allows the owner to continue living on or using the land while ensuring long-term protection from prohibited uses like development.
What States Have Both Inheritance and Estate Tax?
Estate planning is essential to protect the value of your estate and create the lowest possible amount of taxation when assets are transferred to your heirs. Estate planning is especially important for larger estates. The IRS estate tax exemption of $12.06 million excludes many estates from federal taxation, and that exclusion amount is doubled for married couples. However, some states impose estate taxes while others impose inheritance taxes – and one state imposes both.
What Is An Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT)?
Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGT) are when a grantor transfers an asset, or assets, into a trust where the asset and any growth are effectively removed from the estate, but the grantor still pays income tax. Effectively, the grantor’s purpose is to potentially grow the inheritance “income tax-free” for their heirs by paying the income taxes as the asset grows while they are still alive. By setting up an IDGT the grantor is “intentionally” triggering the need to pay income tax on the asset.
Where Do I Put Royalties On My Tax Return?
Taxes are a regular part of generating income. No matter how you earn money, there’s a tax for that. Taxes on ordinary income or capital gains are fairly straightforward. But taxes you might owe on royalties are a little more complex. This is because royalties encompass a broad list of payment types and income. In other words, where to report your royalties when tax time rolls around greatly depends on the type of royalties you earn.
How Does Divorce Affect Capital Gains Tax?
Going through a divorce can be an emotionally difficult time as lives are uprooted during separation. Divorce also can bring about some serious tax consequences, especially for couples who sell their primary marital residence and file separate tax returns. High-net-worth couples who own commercial real estate properties also face some complicated financial decisions.
What Does Per Stirpes Mean For Beneficiaries In A Will?
When you are creating your estate plan, it is important to look beyond your primary beneficiaries and consider what happens to their inheritance if they precede you in death. If you add a per stirpes distribution to your will, the beneficiary's share of your assets will pass to their direct descendants if they die before you.
