Yesterday’s focus was the parent to child exemption for re-assessment in California property taxes. This is a booming area of law as Counties are desperate for tax revenue and finding people who do not do all their tax forms right can be an easy way to make more money. The key with property taxes is […]

Upon death or any other transfer of real estate in California you need to evaluate if a PT-58 form is required. It is the document which tells the county assessor that a transfer has been made, of real property, between a parent and a child.  This will preserve the parent’s property tax assessment or basis. […]

Do you know what the federal estate tax exemption is this year?  Some say $5,000,000.  Some say there is no estate tax. Some say $600,000. Some say $1,000,000.  Some say $100,000. There are all different numbers that could be correct and there are many reasons people come up with those numbers. However, the correct answer […]

As most of my readers know the current federal estate tax exemption is $5,000,000.  This means you can pass $5,000,000 at death without incurring any tax.  However, as many know that law is set to sunset December 31, 2012 and revert the estate tax exemption to $1,000,000. On November 17, 2011 Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) […]

Most Californians known about the famous “Prop 13.”  Just google “Prop 13″ without specifying California and it will come up very high in your search I am sure! It’s the 1978 statewide proposition that established California’s modern day property tax system.  It set a ceiling on property tax based on your assessed value in 1975 […]

What is the GSTT or Generation Skipping Transfer Tax? It’s a confusing tax that your estate planning attorney better have explained to you.  Even an innocent gift to a grandchild can create this tax.  The tax is basically a double tax on gifts that try to “skip” a generation. There are ways to set it […]

I am posting this as a public service. I got it from the California Franchise Tax Board web page.  Until October 31, 2011 you can get amnesty for under reported income in the past related to off shore trusts among other arrangements.  I encourage you to hire an accountant or tax attorney if you are […]

Anybody that follows estate taxes and estate planning knows the new law, created in December of 2010, had some groundbreaking provisions regarding estate taxes. Most notably was the estate tax portability.  Recently the IRS published some guidance for this interesting new law.  In the groundbreaking  Notice 2011-82; 2011-42 IRB 1 (published 9/28/11), the IRS published guidance […]

Everybody talks about estate taxes, gift taxes, and income taxes in estate planning but it’s important to realize there are other taxes that can sneak up on you.  Most people instantly think of the above mentioned taxes when doing their estate planning in California.  However, an even bigger problem in California estate planning is property taxes.  It’s important […]

I am preparing some notes for a presentation I am making next week to some CFP students at UC Davis Extension. I have taught the whole 10 week class, in estate planning,  before.  This time I will be a guest lecturer in the tax class for CFP students. I will talking about the taxation of […]