… was, of course, dying in 2010.
Why ?
No estate taxes.
Steinbrenner’s estate is estimated to be north of $1 billion.
By dying this year, his heirs will pay no Federal estate taxes.
If he had hung on until next, the Feds take would have been about $500 million – assuming that Obama ditches the Bush tax program
Timing is everything.
Full article:
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/steinbrenner-heirs-may-save-millions-on-estate-tax/
The Homa Files 
July 21, 2010 at 4:53 pm |
When my last grandparent passed in 2005 she left behind a family farm consisting of 1,000 acres in NC. In order for my father to receive the land he had to pay ~1 years salary in inheritance taxes. Not so he could really improve his livelihood, but so he could retain the land that was in the family since the 1800s.
A simple modification to the tax law (taxing the land when it eventually sells as capital gains) would have prevented this but the policy experts in Washington will have no part of it. Folks can talk about only taxing the ‘rich’ in society but they’re not the ones having to look my father in the eye while he’s attempting to pull together cash to pay the IRS.
It’s not difficult to die with more than $1 million in assets if you’ve been thrifty during your life. I just don’t comprehend the need for 55% inheritance tax on any assets above that amount (2011 tax rates).