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SoftBonds -> RE: "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes..." Any questions? (4/9/2012 9:24:25 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: erieangel
But I didn't pay property taxes directly and I had more than one landlord lose their property to a sheriff's sale due to unpaid taxes. In truth the only reason I own my home today is because my grandmother gave me the house. But "giving" me the property cost me several thousand dollars, at a time when I was still on SSI. I paid the fees to have my name added to the deed (her name stayed on to save money) then when she died less than a year later, I had to pay inheritance taxes on the full value of the house. As bad as it sounds, if she had held on only 6 weeks longer, there would have been no inheritance taxes. Now I'm faced with a coming bill for another few hundred to have grandma's name taken off the deed. Needless to say, her name is remaining on the deed--I have better things to do with my money than give it to an attorney for something that doesn't really matter all that much unless I someday decide to sell.
I'm curious who did your taxes? There is a huge exemption for inheritance taxes:
(from the IRS)
After the net amount is computed, the value of lifetime taxable gifts (beginning with gifts made in 1977) is added to this number and the tax is computed. The tax is then reduced by the available unified credit.
Most relatively simple estates (cash, publicly traded securities, small amounts of other easily valued assets, and no special deductions or elections, or jointly held property) do not require the filing of an estate tax return. A filing is required for estates with combined gross assets and prior taxable gifts exceeding $1,500,000 in 2004 - 2005; $2,000,000 in 2006 - 2008; $3,500,000 for decedents dying in 2009; and $5,000,000 or more for decedent's dying in 2010 or later (note: there are special rules for decedents dying in 2010.)
From Pub 950:
Table of Unified Credits (Recalculated at Current Rates)
Period Recalculated Unified Credit
1977 (Quarters 1 and 2) $6,000
1977 (Quarters 3 and 4) $30,000
1978 $34,000
1979 $38,000
1980 $42,500
1981 $47,000
1982 $62,800
1983 $79,300
1984 $96,300
1985 $121,800
1986 $155,800
1987 through 1997 $190,800
1998 $199,500
1999 $208,300
2000 and 2001 $217,050
2002 through 2010 $330,800
2011 $1,730,800
2012 $1,772,800
Note, this is the amount by which you can reduce the estate/gift tax for a given person to person transfer. Now granted, you would fall under the Generation Skipping Tax provisions, but $330,800 is a big tax credit. Are we talking about a million dollar home???
I'm not trying to doubt you, I'm trying to find out if you got bad tax advice, it might be worth filing an amended return to get some money back if you did...
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