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Celebrating
our 25th Anniversary
Exemptions and rates
|
Year |
Estate tax exemption1 |
Top estate tax rate |
Gift tax exemption |
Top gift tax rate |
|
2006 |
$2 million |
46% |
$1 million |
46% |
|
2007 |
$2 million |
45% |
$1 million |
45% |
|
2008 |
$2 million |
45% |
$1 million |
45% |
|
2009 |
$3.5 million |
45% |
$1 million |
45% |
|
2010 |
Estate tax repealed |
Estate tax repealed |
$1 million |
35%4
|
|
20112 |
$1 million |
55%3 |
$1 million |
55% |
1
Less any gift tax exemption already used
2
If the repeal is not extended
3
Excluding 5% surtax
4
Equal to highest marginal rate, which currently is 35%
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You may not be exempt from
estate taxes: Watch out for state-level taxes |
While Congress keeps tinkering with ways to eliminate the
federal estate tax system, states have been equally busy
making their own changes to ensure they continue to receive
death taxes. Most states operate with a “pick up” tax that
is equal to the allowable federal credit. Changes to the
federal estate tax, such as increases in the federal
exemption amount and the elimination of the credit for state
death tax, have undermined the federal/state estate tax
relationship, however. This article explains how some states
are “decoupling” from the federal system and rewriting their
tax laws to avoid losing precious state tax revenues.
Read more
Suffering from the high cost
of workers’ compensation insurance?
4 steps to lower premiums
If yours is like most businesses, workers’ compensation
represents one of your largest insurance costs. Did you know
there are steps you can take to reduce your coverage and
claim expenses? This article offers four ways to help you
reduce the risk of occupational injury (and thus reduce your
premium costs) in your workplace. For example, you should
make sure your employee classifications are accurate and you
have ergonomically designed furniture and equipment. A
helpful sidebar provides tips on how to handle a workplace
emergency.
Read more
Why lifetime giving still
makes sense
There’s a popular misconception that the repeal of the
estate tax by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief
Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) makes lifetime gifts
unnecessary. After all, a fundamental goal of a lifetime
giving strategy is to reduce estate taxes. But there are a
number of tax and nontax reasons that lifetime giving should
remain an integral part of your estate plan. This article
explores how traditional estate planning strategies, such as
taking advantage of the annual gift tax exclusion and other
tools, are still relevant.
Read more
Is a Roth 401(k) right for
your business?
This year, your business has another benefit it can offer
employees — Roth 401(k) plans. They can be a very attractive
option, especially for employees who are ineligible for
contributing to Roth IRAs. But they also mean additional
expense and risk for you and more complex planning for your
workers. This article reviews the differences and
similarities of traditional and Roth 401(k) plans.
Read more
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