Bookmark this page
It’s deja vu all over again when it comes to many of the tax provisions in President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2014 budget proposal.
Congress gave people planning for retirement at least four gifts in the “fiscal cliff” fix.
There have been many suggestions for repairing the Social Security shortfall. A report offered today by the National Academy of Social Insurance presented some new-to-me ideas: Raise FICA rate by one-twentieth of 1 percent per year over 20 years, up to 7.2 percent in 2035 — 63 percent fix. Dedicate to Social Security a revamped estate tax
Legislation passed at the end of 2010 raised the amount an individual can exempt from federal estate tax to $5 million, but there’s also another provision in the law that helps married couples. Referred to as estate tax portability, the new law means that widows and widowers can now add the deceased spouse’s exemption to
President Barack Obama announced his 2012 budget proposal Monday, throwing a few bones to people living in retirement and attempting to wrest a few away. Here’s how the 2012 budget proposal would most directly affect your retirement planning: Money in retirees’ pockets. The biggest offering is a $250 “economic recovery” payment that would cost $15 billion
We are smack-dab in the middle of the federal tax filing season. That means most of us have been focusing on what the Internal Revenue Service wants from us by April 18. But for those of you living in one of the 43 states (and the District of Columbia) that collect some form of income
The $858 billion tax package that sailed through Congress this week has left both Republicans and Democrats unhappy with parts of the deal, but the wealthy and their heirs can breathe a sigh of relief – at least for another two years. To get the deal done, Democrats conceded on their effort to raise taxes on the wealthy,
As the deal President Barack Obama reached with Republicans to extend the expiring income tax cuts moves toward final approval, House Democrats are plotting their last stand against the bill. That final fight looks to be about the inevitable meeting of death and taxes. On Monday, the Senate cleared a procedural hurdle, voting to vote
If you don’t have a will, now’s the time to make one. The U.S. Senate has been fiddling over the federal estate tax for the last year. Because they have been unable to act, the existing estate tax expired. This year there is no estate tax, but next year the estate tax is scheduled to
My blog item about what’s up with the estate tax prompted some questions from Bankrate reader Jay. First, Jay would appreciate if I would elaborate a bit on the change in the stepped-up basis rule that is affecting some people who’ve inherited estates. He also wonders whether there are any figures on the taxes gained
