Tax Issues

Income Taxes

Income taxes (those taxes which are paid on earned income,) will not be addressed here other than to say that they are too high! What the IRS cannot get from you while you are alive, it attempts to get when you are gone, through inheritance taxes. Our interest here is with tax issues related to estate planning.

Normally, there are two major tax issues that concern most estate planners. The first is the gift tax and its exclusions. This tax is paid when you give too much money away while you are living. The second tax is the estate tax, also called death tax. This tax is paid when you give away too much money at your death. These are two separate taxes that work independently of each other to relieve you of your assets.