THE IRS DOESN’T WANT YOUR TAX RETURN

At least not if it’s a Form 706 Estate Tax return because they don’t know what to do with them and don’t have a place to store them. Congress can’t seem to get its act together to address a fix for this dilemma and so the estate tax will probably remain in limbo at least for the rest this year.

For some tax payers, this is an unbelievable windfall. Take George M. Steinbrenner for example, the late owner of the New York Yankees. George passed away in July 2010. At the time of his death, his net worth was estimated at somewhere around $1.15 billion. And guess what, if the current estate tax regulations are not changed, George’s heirs will owe exactly zero taxes on his estate. Oh to be so lucky. Not George of course, but his heirs. The current estate tax provisions were part of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and will end on December 31, 2010. Next year the tax rate will return to a graduated rate with a maximum of 55 percent.

The old saying, “You can’t take it with you,” is still true, but with the current estate tax rules you can sure leave a lot more behind for your friends and relatives. What do you think?