NEW SOFTWARE – Robert Keebler’s Complete Net Investment Income Tax (“NIIT”) Calculator

With the recent announcement about the release of the final regs for the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax, nationally renowned CPA, Robert S. Keebler, has released a new calculator to help estate planning professionals run the numbers for clients with his Complete Net Investment Income Tax (“NIIT”) Calculator. This is a unique calculator that allow you to input the necessary income and expenses for filling out the DRAFT versions of Form 8959 (the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax Form) and Form 8960 (the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax Form). These inputs are then transferred directly to the corresponding IRS Form and…

8th Annual Meeting of The Academy of Special Needs Planners

Earlier today, The Academy of Special Needs Planner announced their 8th Annual Meeting to be held on March 27-29, 2014 in Denver. View the agenda Check out this video: This year’s topics include: The Latest and Greatest on Special Needs Planning and the Affordable Care Act – Scott Solkoff, Ann Koerner, and Scott MacDonald Moderator: Kevin Urbatsch Special Needs Planning, DOMA and Other Marriage-Related Issues – Cynthia Barrett Special Needs Planning for Housing, Food Assistance, Employment and Other Benefits – Blaine Brockman & Patricia E. Kefalas Dudek Latest SSI Updates and Understanding and Using SSI Regional Counsel Options – By…

2013 Year-End Tax Planning Ideas (Part 3)

By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) As we near the end of 2013, year-end tax planning again takes center stage. In the last two newsletters we covered two of the most important year-end planning strategies in detail—loss harvesting and Roth IRA conversions. In this newsletter we summarize a number of other strategies that may produce substantial tax savings. Making Trust Distributions The tax brackets for trusts are much more compressed than the tax brackets for individuals. Trusts begin being taxed at the top rate of 39.6% when income rises above $11,950. By contrast, individuals filing joint returns don’t…

Top Ten Reasons to Decant an Irrevocable Trust

By Steven J. Oshins, J.D., AEP (Distinguished) Trust decanting is the act of distributing assets from one trust to a new trust with different terms.  Just as one can decant wine by pouring it from its original bottle into a new bottle, leaving the unwanted sediment in the original bottle, one can pour the assets from one trust into a new trust, leaving the unwanted terms in the original trust. For many years, practitioners have struggled to find ways to change the terms of an irrevocable trust.  However, through common law and through the decanting statutes that have been enacted…

Explaining Trust Income Strategies: An End-of-the-Year Q&A

Reproduced with the expressed written consent and permission from Robert L. Moshman, Esq., author of the The Estate Analyst. To contact Bob Moshman to be included on his distribution list of his monthly newsletter, e-mail Bob at bmoshman@optonline.net. “This is the end, beautiful friend, This is the end, my only friend. The end of our elaborate plans, The end of everything that stands, The end, no safety no surprise, The end, I’ll never look into your eyes again.” —Jim Morrison The waning moments of the year sometimes provide an opportunity for several gratifying tax-saving adjustments. On the other hand, dramatic…

Final IRS Form 706 Instructions Posted

Thanks to Robert Keebler of Keebler & Associates, LLP for the heads up that the final Form 706 instructions were posted on the IRS website on Tuesday. DOWNLOAD FINAL FORM 706 DOWNLOAD FINAL FORM 706 INSTRUCTIONS We also just held a teleconference with Bob on Wednesday on the New Form 706 & Portability. To purchase the handout materials and audio recording of this program, click here.

Alan Gassman & Jonathan G. Blattmachr: Stepping Up Efforts to Step-Up Basis for Married Couples

Thanks to generosity of Leimberg Information Services and nationally renowned estate planning attorneys, Jonathan G. Blattmachr, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation) & Alan S. Gassman, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), Florida State Bar Certified Specialist in Wills, Trusts & Estates, we are pleased to provide to you a recently published article on LISI, where they discuss the importance of stepped-up basis planning for married couples. Also, for more information about Alan Gassmans’ JEST Trust Legal Document Form, click here. Alan Gassman & Jonathan G. Blattmachr: Stepping Up Efforts to Step-Up Basis for Married Couples EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The capital gains tax may be the most…

IRS Released 2013 Draft Form 706

The IRS posted an an early release draft of Form 706 (posted on October 23, 2013). The IRS provides this information as a courtesy. To download the Draft Form 706, click here. Thanks to ATRA and the “permanent” $5+ million tax estate tax exemption, some people feel that fewer estates will be required to file a Form 706. But they’re wrong! Lots of estates that don’t exceed $5.25 million may want to file a 706 because of another 2010 Tax Act provision… “Portability”! Married couples may now fully utilize the first to die’s Estate Tax Exemption without bothering to set…

Monday Funny: A Proposed New Living Will Form

This was shared with us by a fellow colleague and we thought it was funny and a great way to start off the week (on a funny note!). Enjoy and please feel free to share! Proposed New Living Will Form I, _______________________, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead partisan politicians who couldn’t pass ninth grade biology if their lives depended on it or lawyers, doctors, and hospitals interested in running up the bills. If a reasonable…