John Kent Kidwell: 2010 might not be a good year to die

09/08/2010

John Kent Kidwell: 2010 might not be a good year to die

On September 8, 2010, John Kent Kidwell (attorney, Virginia) posted Lapse or Revival of the Estate Tax? It Makes a Huge Difference! on Leading By Example: Revolutionizing Law and Politics blog. Kidwell makes the following interesting comments:

From a purely financial standpoint, does this mean that 2010 is a good year to die? I would argue to the contrary because, concomitant with the expiration of the estate tax, the capital gains tax on inherited property that is sold has been raised to 15%. Beneficiaries of inherited property will no longer enjoy a stepped-up basis when selling property inherited from their loved one’s estates. . . .

So, then, what is Congress set to do by way of tackling this situation? The conventional wisdom, it seems, is Congress will re-institute the estate tax at an amount somewhere around the $3-4million mark, and make the law retroactive to January 1st of this year. Until this is done, however, it is truly a guessing game.

Sep 8, 2010 10:30:00 PM | Retroactive estate tax - Retroactivity

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