The biggest challenge for estate planners is how to reduce estate and gift taxes but allow the client to retain control over his assets. Family limited partnerships (FLPs) provide a solution to this problem. When you place investments, a business, or real estate holdings in a FLP, you retain control of the assets while at… Read More
When you do a “fix and flip,” will the profit be considered ordinary income or capital gain? The answer can be the difference between the 20% maximum capital gain rate and the 39.6% maximum ordinary income tax rate. (And don’t forget the lurking 3.8% net investment income tax.) The tax policy of having a lower… Read More
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA), which tried to keep us from going over the “fiscal cliff,” raised the federal estate tax exemption to $5.25 million and made permanent an estate tax concept called “portability.” How long the exemption will stay at $5.25 million (ignoring annual inflation adjustments) is anybody’s guess. “Portable” means… Read More