Due to current federal and Washington state gift and estate tax laws, along with uncertainty with respect to future changes in these tax rules, this year represents a potential once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many Washington families to reduce their taxable estate and pass on more of their assets to their beneficiaries. If you are a Washington …
Tag Archive: federal taxes
Dec
08
Recent local news articles on Estate Planning and Death Taxes
I would like to share a few local Washington state news articles related to estate planning and death taxes. I have talked about the current estate tax system for both Washington State Estate Taxes as well as the IRS imposed federal Estate Taxes in previous posts, but in summary, the current exemptions are $5 million …
Sep
20
Washington State Estate Taxes
I am often asked about the taxes that could be levied on an estate by the IRS. While the federal estate tax can be significant for those with very large estates, changes to the law at the end of 2010 exempted nearly all estates from such taxes as well as allowing spouses to give their …
Jun
29
Washington Trusts: Credit Shelter Trust
A Credit Shelter Trust is an Estate Planning tool used by married couples specifically for the purpose of reducing estate taxes (or “death taxes”) due upon the death of the second spouse. The Credit Shelter Trust operates much the same way as a Disclaimer Trust by using the federal and state exemption amounts of the …
May
25
Washington State Estate Tax
Washington State levies a tax on the estate of of residents based upon their total “taxable estate”. The current estate tax, or death tax, rates range from 10% to 19% and are given in the table below. The tax is also applied to non-residents based upon the total property located in Washington State.
Apr
12
Estate tax basics
With tax season upon us, I thought I would take just a moment to give a very brief overview of the estate and gift tax scheme at the federal and Washington state levels. The amount of any estate tax (or death tax or inheritance tax) due upon your death depends on the size of your …