Nov 19

Tax statistics just released by the IRS

A few of the tax statistics from the past ten years were just released by the IRS. Because I work mainly in the areas of wills and trusts, probates, estate planning and business planning, this information on taxes is very important to know and share as each individual looks at their own tax returns and those for the nation. Here is the link to the IRS data site: http://www.irs.gov/file_source/PUP/taxstats/indtaxstats/10in03etr.xls

Some of the interesting facts I took away from the report:

To be in the top 10% of filers for 2010, a filing unit (individual, married couple, head of household) had an AGI (adjusted gross income) of $116,623. Those top 10% of filers paid 70.62% of all income taxes, even though they only had a 45.17% share of all income.
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To be in the top 50%, the filing unit had an AGI of $34,338. those 50% of filers paid 97.64% of all income taxes.

Look over the whole chart and find your own information. What I want you to take away from this post is that even though politicians say that the rich do not pay enough in taxes, you need to remember that nearly 50% pay no taxes at all. The burden is squarely on the top 10%, but a majority of voters have plans for those other people’s money.

Nov 15

Where to go with tax planning now

It has taken me almost ten days since the election to put up this post. I have had to spend this last week and a half trying to find insight into where the tax laws may go as well as trying to deal with a sick body and a broken heart. At this point, I think I am ready to share my opinions with all of my readers in southwest Oklahoma and the nation as to what I think will happen now that the power in Washington, D.C. is essentially unchanged from the last two years. The only difference will be that because of sequestration, warhawk Republicans and Democrats will be more likely to allow tax hikes than cuts to the military. (I am not against the military, but I think there are other, significant cuts the government needs to make rather than double taxing wealth.)

The Estate Tax – The estate tax is very low on the “sexy” wish list for Congress and the President. This is because, essentially, even with only a $1,000,000 lifetime exemption, because of the unlimited marital deduction and charitable deduction, less than 5% of estates will get hit with this in any year. (In addition, people normally do not get to choose when they die, so allowing this tax increase can be said to just be a part of life.) Having over $1M in assets is easy for fingerpointers to say “this only affects the rich,” so I do not see significant relief coming.  What to expect: Expect a $1,000,000 lifetime exemption and a top tax rate up to 55%. The only change that may be enacted will be extension of the portability language so that an A/B trust does not have to be created between married spouses.

The Gift Tax – Like the Estate Tax, this will be low on the priority list for Congress and the President. I expect the gift tax to once again be unified with the Estate Tax to only allow a $1,000,000 lifetime exemption. The annual exclusion gift will probably still be $13,000 next year because we have not seen significant inflation through this fiscal year (but hold on to your butts for years after 2013).

The Marginal Income Tax Rates – Despite Republicans not wanting to raise taxes on anyone, I think the Democrats will win this debate as well. I think we will see a merged tax schedule based on the tax years of 2000 and 2011. This will be similar to as follows: Under $8,500 in taxable income ($17,000 married) will be a 10% rate; Between $8,500 and $22,000 ($17,000 to $34,000 married) will be a 15% rate; Between $22,000 and $85,000 ($34,000 to $110,000 married) will be a 25% rate; Between $85,000 and $125,000 ($110,000 to $150,000 married) will be a 30% rate; Between $125,000 and $200,000 ($150,000 to $250,000 married) will be a 35% rate; and Above $200,000 ($250,000 married) will be a 39.6% rate. All tax rates are increasing is what you should expect unless you make less than $8,500 in taxable income.

In this way cialis on sale they save money and they share their knowledge and understanding of Ayurveda via a YouTube channel called Health Tips by Divyarishi. This herb also boosts up psychological health that helps to regain healthy psychological state to stay away from the habit of sildenafil generic self stimulation easily. However, there are natural food remedies, which can help heal erectile dysfunction. buy levitra online His order cheap viagra mind is Distraught with grief and he cannot sleep for worrying. Payroll Tax – I think that Congress and the President will finally see that it is time to stop playing with the Social Security funding and will allow the 2% payroll tax cut to expire. Everyone who earns a wage should expect to see 2% less of their pay after January 1.

Capital Gains – The long-term capital gain rate is scheduled to increase from a maximum of 15% to a maximum of 20%. Everyone should expect this to go through.

Dividend taxation – For people still invested in regular corporations, profit distributioins from the corporation are taxed twice; once at the corporate level, once when distributed to shareholders. During the Bush Tax Cuts, the dividends to shareholders were given favorable rates equal to the long-term capital gain rate (max 15%). This will expire and dividends will go back to being taxed at marginal income rates (max 39.6% plus Obamacare surcharges). What to expect: Shareholders are going to pay higher taxes. Companies will decrease dividend payments. Owners of small corporations will have less incentive to earn more money because it will be taxed above 65% before it is distributed to them.

This is getting long, so I will continue at a later date. If you are worried about these taxes, then please call my office to discuss how you can lower you tax burden in the future.

Oct 30

Values for land and minerals in southwestern Oklahoma

In my last post, I talked about how the IRS must use a fair market value when determing value passed through estate planning or gifting. In this post, I want to just highlight what some of those values are, generally, and give you, as someone interested in estate planning, an idea of how large the IRS actually thinks your estate is so they can tax it.

First, land values: Based on my reviews of land sales here in southwestern Oklahoma, land values vary greatly. We have taken a small hit on the price of range and pasture land, but croplands are rising fairly well, if you are a landowner. Recent trends tend to show that pasture land will bring between $450 and $800 per acre, mainly just for the surface. For cropland that will stay as cropland, the price is usually between $600 and up to $1,500, a lot depending upon production history and location. For cropland that is likely to be split into homesites of 20 acres or less, the price varies between $2,000 and $5,000 per acre (location being the key here). For irrigated cropland, there have not been many recent sales to show a trend, but based on prodcution levels, I would assume that good irrigated land would be worth between $2,000 and $3,500 here in southwestern Oklahoma.

Not all cialis india online stores offer the same performance and reliability, for a fraction of what other similar anti ED medicines cost. The experts readily explain the effects of aging and the impacts it buy viagra line may have on sexual techniques. When a man is known cialis tadalafil canada check to find out more for dealing with ED Many men fail to communicative about what really turns them on. In the long run, it diminishes sexual libido affecting both sexual drive and desire as it affects the adequate production of the male viagra uk delivery sexual hormone testosterone. For minerals, there are rules of thumb for valuation. If there is a lease, but no production, then the value is assumed to be 3x the most recent lease bonus. If there is production, then it is generally 5x the yearly oil production or 7x the yearly gas production gross values. If there are no history of leases, then common values accepted by the Oklahoma Tax Commission are $50 per acre for eastern Jackson, western Kiowa, and western Tillman Counties. For western Jackson, most parts of Greer and Harmon Counties, the accepted value is $125 per acre based on surrounding production. For Beckham County, the non-producing value is $250 per acre.

When you add up these values, it is easy to see that even a small landowner (about 500 acres of surface and minerals) could easily pass the $1,000,000 estate tax exemption that will be passed next year. So if you are a landowner, you should contact a qualified estate planning attorney to see how you can ensure your legacy passes to your children and not to Uncle Sam through wealth transfer taxes.

Oct 28

A little about valuations used by the IRS

A lot of my focus with tax and legacy planning is done to ensure that the IRS does not take more of your or your loved ones’ estate than is required by law. Under most IRS tax scenarios, especially the wealth transfer taxes (e.g., the gift tax, the estate tax, and the generation skipping transfer tax), the IRS will base its taxes due on the value you have transferred to the next generation. A majority of the planning done for larger estates will look at ways to lower the determined value, so I want to take this opportunity to help my readers learn how the IRS looks at the value transferred.

First, under Tax Court cases, the standard that the IRS must use for a transferred asset must be “what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller, with both fully informed of all facts related to the transfer.” This is commonly termed as the “fair market value” of the asset. For commonly traded assets (think of public stock, feeder cattle, or other readily marketable commodities), the fair market value can be determined by looking to the markets for the day of the transfer and the value assigned based on the trades for that day. But, the IRS has a hard time proving value on assets where there are no public markets. This brings up one of the most commonly used practices in legacy planning, “discounting”.

Under the court interpretations of discounting, the underlying assets do not fully account for the value of the transferred assets, if there are restrictions placed on the transferred assets. So, if you transfer a minority interest in an asset, the true fair market value is actually less than the fraction of the asset actually transferred. The easiest way to show this is by a simple example, so here goes.
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Example: Assume you own 100 acres of land near Altus. We will further assume that this land would sell for about $2,000 per acre based on comparable sales in the area. If you were to transfer this to your (assumed) two children outright, you will have completed a gift of $200,000 and may have to pay gift taxes. However, if you gave your children remainder interests, depending upon your age and health, you would only have transferred about $100,000 in value and would cut your taxes owed in more than half. The same principle would apply with split interests (like adding them as joint tenants) and with placing the land in an LLC and giving them minority interests in the LLC.

You can see that these scenarios can get complicated pretty fast, so if you have a large estate (what the IRS would consider more than $1,000,000) you should contact a qualified estate and tax planning attorney to look at scenarios that will benefit you and your children rather than the tax man. I would like to meet with you and your family to discuss these and other estate planning options for the citizens of Altus and southwestern Oklahoma.

Sep 22

Interesting site on tax questions

 

 
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