With all the talk about the future of the Bush tax cuts, one aspect of taxation that isn’t getting quite as much press is the reappearance of the estate tax.
As of January 1, 2011, the estate tax will once again rear its ugly head and take a serious bite out of your estate assets when it does.
If your estate is valued at $1 million or more (for individuals, not married couples), your loved ones could be hit with a tax bill of 55%.
Here’s a quick and dirty list of things to seriously think about before January 1st:
1. Don’t Count On Congress.
The issue of the estate tax may not be resolved any time soon. The Bush tax-cut extension is such a hot button issue and is generating so much press, no one is sure what will result from it. An increase of the estate tax exemption to $5 million is included in the Obama tax plan, but the House and Senate would both have to agree to it for that to become law. The end of the year is only about 3 weeks away and there’s still a lot of squabbling on Capitol Hill about this issue.
