Introduction to the Estate Tax

An estate tax is a levy on estates whose value exceeds an exclusion limit set by law. Only the amount that exceeds that minimum threshold is subject to tax. Assessed by the federal government and about a dozen state governments, these levies are calculated based on the estate's fair market value (FMV) rather than what the deceased originally paid for its assets. The tax is levied by the state in which the deceased person was living at the time of their death.

President Theodore Roosevelt argued for the estate tax to Congress in 1906: “the inheritance of those swollen fortunes which it is the certainty of no benefit to this country to perpetuate”

The typical objection to the estate tax is that it destroys productive capital investments (discourages investment)

The estate tax is imposed on the decedent and is paid from the decedent’s estate

In this online CPE webinar, the speaker will discuss estate tax from its foundation concepts to proposed reforms 

This webinar will also focus on basic tax concepts of gifts or gratuitous transfer between individuals; when a Form 709 Gift Tax Return must be filed; and review of a sample gift tax return from a preparation and review standpoint; and times when gifts are reported on a decedent’s estate return

Key topics covered in this online CPE webinar:

• the decedent’s final income tax return
• income in respect of a decedent the workings of wills and trusts
• the workings of wills and trusts
• fiduciary accounting and how it relates to preparing the fiduciary income tax return
• 1041 deductions
• the income distribution deduction
• tax computation and techniques to minimize taxes
• tax treatment of beneficiaries
• Gift tax planning
• Marital deduction
• GST planning opportunities
• Lifetime exemption gifting
• Leveraging gifts and GST exclusion allocations

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