In a recent case out of the Tax Court, a surviving spouse’s Estate was denied the portability of the Deceased Spouse’s Unused Exclusion (“DSUE”) from the decedent’s spouse who had passed away two years before the survivor.[1] The Estate Tax Return (“706”) for the decedent’s spouse, while filed, was not “complete and properly prepared” and…
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Estate planners and tax practitioners have been utilizing incomplete non-grantor trusts, or “ING” trusts, with increased frequency. ING trusts can be utilized for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, federal income tax planning,[1] asset protection, planning for qualified small business stock benefits, income shifting through distributions to descendants, and others. While this…
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We have covered timing and delivery issues in several articles, such as the recent Demuth and Hoensheid cases.[1] Similarly, the recent Tax Court case of Gage v. Comm’r dealt with the taxpayers that believed they paid a $875,000 settlement to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) in December of 2012.[2] Unfortunately for the…
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In a recent case out of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, the Court held that attorney fees awarded plaintiff’s counsel who was handling the case pro bono, that is, free of charge, were not income to the plaintiff who was represented by the attorneys receiving the fees.[1] In the…
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