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Couple inherits art it can't sell, IRS says it owes $29M in death taxes

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Dead Man

Member
Yea, fuck people that want to give their wealth to their children so they can live a better life!

When I die everything I worked hard (and paid taxes the entire time) for should go to people I don't know because obviously they need it!

Someone hasn't read the thread very well.
 

RDreamer

Member
The situation here is the government saying "if you want this piece of inheritance, give us $29 million, and then once you have it, we'll arrest you if you try and sell it". That seems sort of crazy to me.

Which brings me back to my point. The problem here isn't the estate tax law, it's the law that says you can legally own this thing, but you cannot legally sell it. That's where things get hairy to me. With their waiver saying it was made before the ban, it should be able to be sold, in my opinion.
 

Jarmel

Banned
Again, so how do you lose all benefit? Please keep sidestepping the issue instead of responding. What the hell does you having siblings have to do with tax law?

My understanding is most of the benefit I could get is going to get absorbed in taxes. It's certainly not a horrible situation.

Do your parents have no assets other than a $2.5m house?

I don't know. I think dad has stocks but that's it.
 

ronito

Member
Yea, fuck people that want to give their wealth to their children so they can live a better life!

When I die everything I worked hard (and paid taxes the entire time) for should go to people I don't know because obviously they need it!

This post + the avatar + user name made this post far more hilarious than I think it was intended.
 

RDreamer

Member
My understanding is most of the benefit I could get is going to get absorbed in taxes. It's certainly not a horrible situation.

Isn't most of your understanding coming from your parents? And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember another thread where you talked about them and they claimed to not be rich at all (even though they very much are), and everyone thought it was pretty ridiculous back then too.


how can value be assigned to an item that cannot be sold?

implicit in the concept of "value" is ability to sell it for said amount.

Not necessarily. If they were to set up a museum wherein people payed money to see the artwork in said museum would you still contend this piece has no value at all? In such a scenario it would generate profit by being an attraction. It could potentially have great value in such a case.
 
My understanding is most of the benefit I could get is going to get absorbed in taxes. It's certainly not a horrible situation.



I don't know. I think dad has stocks but that's it.

Where? Where does it say most? When the TOP tax rate is 35% and the estate would have to be over $5mil? You seem to just be spouting nonsense that isn't even true for pages now.


I did. Was just irked by the "fuck rich people!" tripe.
And you respond to it by spouting ignorant bullshit? Ok...
 

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
Not necessarily. If they were to set up a museum wherein people payed money to see the artwork in said museum would you still contend this piece has no value at all? In such a scenario it would generate profit by being an attraction. It could potentially have great value in such a case.
That's not how the tax law calculates value of personal property.
 
Saw the words "death tax" and I knew it was Kosmo.

Honestly the rich have done such a good job on framing this argument in their favor.

"It's a death tax!"
"You mean that the dead are paying the taxes?"
"Well no, not them but their inheritors are paying taxes!"
"Well isn't that like a financial/estate transaction?"
"Yeah"
"Can you think of any financial/estate transaction that ISN'T taxed?"
"But the dead already paid taxes!"
"Yeah, and I already paid taxes on my car and if I sell it/give it to someone they have to pay taxes on it. Why is it any different just because I'm dead?"
"Uhh....death tax!!"

The sad thing is that Republicans and the rich makes the poor and middle class believe it'll effect them, too.
 

daycru

Member
The sad thing is that Republicans and the rich makes the poor and middle class believe it'll effect them, too.
My GF's grandma, who is middle of the road dem, was bitching to me about the death taxes. She worked at a factory for 50 years. No one is taking her money. But that they *think* they will is all that matters.
 

RDreamer

Member
That's not how the tax law calculates value of personal property.

I didn't say it was. I was just refuting the concept of value in general as being attached only to selling such an item. I realize the tax law wouldn't (and probably shouldn't) take that into account.
 
1) As has been stated, but requires more emphasis: Estate tax. Not a death tax. The intent is to try and prevent an accumulation of wealth and power in a few families.

It boggles my mind that the same money can be taxed multiple times. I made the money, and I paid income tax on it. Then I die, and my son gets the money. Oh, he has to pay income tax on it again!


Fucking ridiculous.

2) Money is taxed multiple times, every time there's a transaction. Taxation happens when you are given a paycheck. It then happens again when you buy something. It then happens again when that money is used to buy supplies. Again when it's reinvested into manufacturing equipment or employees. And so on.
 
Just to be clear.. if you "inherent" money, of any amount, you are taxed on that money. It's basically income.

The "estate tax" is a separate tax. It is levied first, if it applies, and the "estate" pays the tax. It's where "death tax" comes from, because, in a way.. the dead person IS paying the taxes.

If you think you aren't going to pay taxes on the Money your Grandma leaves you because it is under some threshold, I believe you are just wrong.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Re: property estate tax.

In the U.S., if someone passes away and their property goes to someone else, the person inherriting that property pays full value on that property? That means if, by poor chance, 2-3 owners of a piece of property were to die in a short span, the IRS would end up collecting more taxes than the property is worth? Is this right?

If so, I prefer Canada's stance on this: when you inherrit a piece of property, you only pay taxes on the capital gains since the property was purchased or last transfered ownership. Also, I believe we do not pay taxes if the property being inherrited was a primary residence.
 
If you think you aren't going to pay taxes on the Money your Grandma leaves you because it is under some threshold, I believe you are just wrong.

If I'm not mistaken, gifts under a certain amount are not taxed, and estate taxes don't kick in until the inheritance passes 5 million dollars.

5 million fuckin' dollars. Goddamn.
 

Dead Man

Member
Re: property estate tax.

In the U.S., if someone passes away and their property goes to someone else, the person inherriting that property pays full value on that property? That means if, by poor chance, 2-3 owners of a piece of property were to die in a short space, the IRS would end up collecting more taxes than the property is worth? Is this right?

If so, I prefer Canada's stance on this: when you inherrit a piece of property, you only pay taxes on the capital gains since the property was purchased or last transfered ownership. Also, I believe we do not pay taxes if the property being inherrited was a primary residence.

Interesting conundrum, I have no idea how that is handled.
 
If I'm not mistaken, gifts under a certain amount are not taxed, and estate taxes don't kick in until the inheritance passes 5 million dollars.

5 million fuckin' dollars. Goddamn.

The gift amount is something like $12k per person. And a dead person can't give a "gift."

But again.

ESTATE TAX is paid by the state.

If your Grandma leaves you $4 million... you still pay taxes on that $4 million.
 

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
Re: property estate tax.

In the U.S., if someone passes away and their property goes to someone else, the person inherriting that property pays full value on that property? That means if, by poor chance, 2-3 owners of a piece of property were to die in a short space, the IRS would end up collecting more taxes than the property is worth? Is this right?

If so, I prefer Canada's stance on this: when you inherrit a piece of property, you only pay taxes on the capital gains since the property was purchased or last transfered ownership.

If 3 equal owners of a property pass at the same time, then each would only include 1/3 of the value of the property in their respective estate.

Estate tax is only assessed if the total value of the estate goes over a certain threshold. For this year it is $5m. When you inherit a specific piece of personal property, you receive a basis in that property equal to its FMV, valued at the date the decedent passed. If you later sold that property, then you would be assessed a tax based upon the income you received greater than that basis. Whether it's capital gains or ordinary income depends upon other factors.
 
In the U.S., if someone passes away and their property goes to someone else, the person inherriting that property pays full value on that property? That means if, by poor chance, 2-3 owners of a piece of property were to die in a short span, the IRS would end up collecting more taxes than the property is worth? Is this right?

Huh? No. If 2-3 people owned a piece of property, their "estate" would only own a percentage of the value of said property.

There is no scenario where you'd end up paying more taxes than something is worth.

Splitting the property between 2-3 people can help ensure no Estate tax is levied in the first place.. because no single entity actually holds the entire value.
 

Dead Man

Member
If 3 equal owners of a property pass at the same time, then each would only include 1/3 of the value of the property in their respective estate.

Estate tax is only assessed if the total value of the estate goes over a certain threshold. For this year it is $5m. When you inherit a specific piece of personal property, you receive a basis in that property equal to its FMV, valued at the date the decedent passed. If you later sold that property, then you would be assessed a tax based upon the income you received greater than that basis. Whether it's capital gains or ordinary income depends upon other factors.

I think his question more like 'What happens if somones great grandparent dies and leaves their grandparent a house, who dies later that week, and then their parent dies the week after'? Will the tax liability be the total from passing through 3 estates?
 
I call it the "bootstrap tax", if you haven't earned enough in your life to inherit your family's estate then you just haven't worked hard enough, and someone who has worked harder than you will get to buy your estate.

Taxi Driver for president.
Last fall, the agency sent the family an unsigned draft report that it was valuing "Canyon" at $15 million. After Mr. Lerner replied that the children were refusing to pay, the I.R.S. then sent a formal Notice of Deficiency in October saying it had increased the valuation to $65 million.

That figure came from the agency's Art Advisory Panel, which is made up of experts and dealers and meets a few times a year to advise the I.R.S.'s Art Appraisal Services unit.

So IRS says 15mil based on what..who knows? Couple refuses to pay. IRS expert panel says 65 mil. Seems high, but I'm not an expert. The fact that they can't sell it isn't a qualifier to call it worthless either. Especially since it is currently insured by the museum for an amount they wont or can't disclose. If I was the judge on this case I would rule that they don't have to pay taxes as long as they give up all possession of the piece.

Estate Tax in general I feel is very fair especially at the level it currently stands. Like travisbickle said if you didn't work hard enough to pay the taxes on mommy and daddy's 1mil plus estate then I guess you have to sell it to pay. You still come out ahead monitarily. The farm argument is great at tugging at heart strings. I would rather think about the Hilton's and Johnson and Johnson family paying.
 
There might be some individual states that do this, but the US doesn't.

My Mom just died.

She wasn't worth anywhere near millions of dollars.

I've had to fill out tax forms, federal ones, on some of the money I've inherited. Any amount greater than $20k or something you are expected to pay estimated taxes on ahead of time.

It will ALL be taxed though.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Huh? No. If 2-3 people owned a piece of property, their "estate" would only own a percentage of the value of said property.

There is no scenario where you'd end up paying more taxes than something is worth.

Splitting the property between 2-3 people can help ensure no Estate tax is levied in the first place.. because no single entity actually holds the entire value.

No, I mean if:

Person A owns the property, passes away, leaves it to Person B
Person B owns the property, passes away, leaves it to Person C
Percon C owns the property, passes away...

within a short span of time.

Would the taxes be paid based on the full value of the property each time?
 
Some states have estate taxes, most do not.

I meant estate. Not state.

Totally confusing typo.

But this thread is REALLY confused.

Inheritance tax is separate from estate tax.

Not all estates are taxed, certainly not at the same rate.

Inheritance is almost ALWAYS taxed.. unless you have enough write-offs or credits, either way, it is reported as taxable income of sorts.

edit: I've pretty much been proven wrong, so this comment can go ignored. Sorry for the confusion.
 

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
My Mom just died.

She wasn't worth anywhere near millions of dollars.

I've had to fill out tax forms, federal ones, on some of the money I've inherited. Any amount greater than $20k or something you are expected to pay estimated taxes on ahead of time.

It will ALL be taxed though.

You need to talk to a tax attorney ASAP, buecause that is not correct. If you're using one, get a new one.
could someone refuse inheritance on something like this?
Yes, it's called disclaimer.
 
No, I mean if:

Person A owns the property, passes away, leaves it to Person B
Person B owns the property, passes away, leaves it to Person C
Percon C owns the property, passes away...

within a short span of time.

Would the taxes be paid based on the full value of the property each time?

Oh.. Well.. I don't know. But theoretically each instance of inheritance will cause the "estate" to be negated by the taxable amount.

So person B's estate would have to rectify the taxes they owe.

Making their estate worth less.
 
Saw the words "death tax" and I knew it was Kosmo.

Honestly the rich have done such a good job on framing this argument in their favor.

"It's a death tax!"
"You mean that the dead are paying the taxes?"
"Well no, not them but their inheritors are paying taxes!"
"Well isn't that like a financial/estate transaction?"
"Yeah"
"Can you think of any financial/estate transaction that ISN'T taxed?"
"But the dead already paid taxes!"
"Yeah, and I already paid taxes on my car and if I sell it/give it to someone they have to pay taxes on it. Why is it any different just because I'm dead?"
"Uhh....death tax!!"
It shouldn't be taxed if it's a one-way gift. If my father wants to give me his old car, he should be able to without any of us paying anything to the government. If I want to give you my old car, I should be able to without either of us paying anything to the government. Taxing postmortem gifts is deplorable.
 
You need to talk to a tax attorney ASAP, buecause that is not correct. If you're using one, get a new one.

Perhaps it's because I'm inheriting tax sheltered money then?

I'm not confident in my overall statements, but I'm 100% confident that I am not being duped into paying taxes I'm not supposed to. This was done w/ lawyers, and under advisement from the same financial people my Mom was paying to manage her money.

Sorry if I'm just adding to the confusion..
 

Cyan

Banned
My Mom just died.

She wasn't worth anywhere near millions of dollars.

I've had to fill out tax forms, federal ones, on some of the money I've inherited. Any amount greater than $20k or something you are expected to pay estimated taxes on ahead of time.

It will ALL be taxed though.

Damn, I'm sorry to hear that.

I'm not a tax expert, but that really doesn't sound right. IIRC, you might have to pay taxes on things like pensions or IRAs that would've been income to her. But assets should not be taxable. Again, not an expert, but I'd suggest you consult one.

Edit:
Perhaps it's because I'm inheriting tax sheltered money then?

I'm not confident in my overall statements, but I'm 100% confident that I am not being duped into paying taxes I'm not supposed to. This was done w/ lawyers, and under advisement from the same financial people my Mom was paying to manage her money.
Gotcha. Yes, it's almost certainly because it was tax-sheltered.
 

Guevara

Member
No, I mean if:

Person A owns the property, passes away, leaves it to Person B
Person B owns the property, passes away, leaves it to Person C
Percon C owns the property, passes away...

within a short span of time.

Would the taxes be paid based on the full value of the property each time?
No, because the taxes owned by each person would reduce the total size of the inherited estate.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
If it cant' be sold, it's fair market value is 0.
 
Damn, I'm sorry to hear that.

I'm not a tax expert, but that really doesn't sound right. IIRC, you might have to pay taxes on things like pensions or IRAs that would've been income to her. But assets should not be taxable. Again, not an expert, but I'd suggest you consult one.

Yeah I'm probably just getting confused because at this point what has been received has probably all been from cashed out IRA's.

We have yet to sell her house or receive any direct cash.

edit: And thanks for the condolences.. it's been 6 months of endless paperwork even for a small estate, so I'm pretty detached emotionally when discussing this morbid topic of inheritance at this point.
 

pigeon

Banned
It shouldn't be taxed if it's a one-way gift. If my father wants to give me his old car, he should be able to without any of us paying anything to the government. If I want to give you my old car, I should be able to without either of us paying anything to the government. Taxing postmortem gifts is deplorable.

Once again, there is no tax on gifts under a certain amount ($13,000) per year, and over that amount you're giving big enough gifts that you can afford to give the IRS a little gift as well.
 
The gift amount is something like $12k per person. And a dead person can't give a "gift."

But again.

ESTATE TAX is paid by the state.

If your Grandma leaves you $4 million... you still pay taxes on that $4 million.

Actually, there's a Federal Estate tax that is generally applicable across all 50 states, with some exceptions. Let's see...


Indiana: The spouse of a decedent is 100% exempt from paying inheritance tax. Parents, children,grandparents,grandchildren,and other lineal ancestors and lineal descendants of the decedent,as of July 1, 2012, are exempt from taxation on the first $250,000 of inheritance. Tax is on a sliding scale that starts at 1% to 10% of the net inheritance of each individual. More information may be obtained by referring to IH-6, Indiana's inheritance tax instructions.

Iowa: Inheritance is exempt if passed to a surviving spouse, parents, or grandparents, or to children, grandchildren,or other "lineal" descendants. Other recipients are subject to inheritance tax, with rates varying depending on the relationship of the recipient to the deceased.[14]

Kentucky: The inheritance tax is a tax on a beneficiary's right to receive property from a decedent's estate. It is imposed as a percentage of the amount transferred to the beneficiary. Transfers to "Class A" relatives (spouses, parents, children, grandchildren, and siblings) are exempt. Transfers to "Class B" relatives (nieces, nephews, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, aunts, uncles, and great-grandchildren) are taxable. Transfers to "Class C" recipients (all other persons) are taxable at a higher rate.[15] Kentucky imposes an estate tax in addition to its inheritance tax.[15]

Pennsylvania: Inheritance tax is a flat tax on the value of the decedent's taxable estate as of the date of death, less allowable funeral and administrative expenses and debts of the decedent. Pennsylvania does not allow the six month after date of death alternate valuation method that is available at the federal level. Transfers to spouses exempt. Transfers to grandparents, parents, or lineal descendants are taxed at 4.5%. Transfers to siblings are taxed at 12%. Transfers to any other persons are taxed at 15%. Some assets are exempted, including life insurance proceeds. The inheritance tax is imposed on both residents and nonresidents who owned real estate and tangible personal property in Pennsylvania at the time of their death. The Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return (Form Rev-1500) must be filed within nine (9) months of the date of death.[16]

Utah: abolished inheritance tax in 2005.[13]

New Hampshire: abolished state inheritance tax in 2003; abolished surcharge on Federal estate tax in 2005.[9]


Louisiana: abolished inheritance tax in 2008, for deaths occurring on or after 1 July 2004.[8]

That's just a quick and dirty look at Wikipedia. Looks like quite a few individual states either don't have it at all, make it so that direct descendants don't pay taxes or the cap is quite high.

Soooooo

EDIT:

Looks like I wasted my time! :(
 

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
If they win their case against the IRS and subsequently sell the piece, then they would presumably be doing so with a basis of $0, and would therefore be taxed on any income they received. The rub here, is that the amount of tax assessed in this situation would be significantly less than what is owed under the estate tax.

What's interesting, is that the IRS seems to be ignoring its own regulations when assessing this piece at such a high value. IRS regs state that:

The fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or to sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts. The fair market value of a particular item of property includible in the decedent's gross estate is not to be determined by a forced sale price. Nor is the fair market value of an item of property to be determined by the sale price of the item in a market other than that in which such item is most commonly sold to the public, taking into account the location of the item wherever appropriate.​
26 C.F.R. § 20.2031–1(b)

I would say that a very relevant fact is that it is against the law to sell the piece, which is why Christie's valued it at zero. Now, we know that the decedent obtained a waiver to possess the piece, but can the heirs obtain a similar waiver to allow them to sell it? If they cannot obtain this waiver, then I think the IRS's assessment of its value is on shakey ground. If, however, they could obtain the waiver but simply do not want to part with the artwork, then I think the IRS stands a strong chance of prevailing on the issue.

Huh? How does that violate their own regulations?

It says the fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller. It says nothing about whether or not such a transaction is legally permissible.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
No, because the taxes owned by each person would reduce the total size of the inherited estate.

What if each person paid the taxes in full before they passed away?

Huh? How does that violate their own regulations?

It says the fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller. It says nothing about whether or not such a transaction is legally permissible.

It violates it because if estate were to go from parent to child, they likely would not charge them for it.
 
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