Estate Taxes?
How are the deductions on estate taxes calculated. The family business, which is the estate mainly, is going to cause the tax. Are there any % the IRS goes by based on value? I can only find the maximum % on their site(46%).
Public Comments
- If you are asking this question here, you should not attempt to do an estate tax return. They are very complicated and normally only done by attorneys and a CPA working together on the estate matters.
- This can get you into so much trouble. They will value it at some point within a year or so of death, assuming it doesn't go to a surviving spouse. That's what you have to pay taxes on, and once it goes over the standard deduction, you hit the maximum on the amount above that pretty quick. It's big. It's so big that it is possible that to pay the taxes the business will have to be sold to get the cash to pay it, and it doesn't bring what you're having to pay taxes on. If the business is that significant, you should get some serious estate planning advice. Either getting an insurance policy that will cover the taxes on the business, or putting the business into a trust so that the decedent doesn't actually own it at death are the two major ways to get around it.
- You really should contact an attorney or CPA. Don't sign over P/R duties to either, hire them on an hourly basis. If you turn over the p/r duties they would get a percentage of the value of the estate which is generally much more tan an hourly fee would be. This is a complex area of the law that involves wills and taxes and valuations nad you need to be guided by experts.
