The Evolution of our Unified Estate and Gift Tax System
January 19, 2022 Estate planning attorneys often tell clients that even if you don’t have an estate, you need an estate plan. Estate planning involves more than planning to avoid the estate tax, although understanding the estate tax and its impact on a plan are certainly required. Until 1916, the…
Double Your Gifting with Spousal Gift-Splitting
It may be possible to double your gifting by using spousal “gift-splitting.” Spouses may elect to split gifts made to others. If they do so, they must split all the gifts made by the other spouse to others for that year. For example, let’s say John made gifts of $30,000…
Start 2022 the Right Way
Welcome to 2022! Most of us will leave 2021 without hesitation – many had high hopes that 2021 would bring the end of COVID-19 and a return to normalcy and yet we face another variant as we usher in 2022. While things may not have gone the way we hoped…
Tax Planning for 2022
As 2021 draws to a close and the New Year dawns, we need to think of…tax planning! Some years Congress tweaks the laws more than other years. While 2021 held plenty of events: a coronavirus vaccine, new coronavirus variants, a new President, etc., it was a relatively quiet year for…
The Sky Isn’t Falling
September usually brings the start of a new school year, cooler temperatures, football, and a time for reflection in the final quarter. This year, September brought concern, bordering on panic, over proposed changes to the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) when Congress released legislation containing several proposals eliminating the benefits of…
It’s Better to Give Than to Receive
As this year ends and you plan for the next, it’s a great time to tie up loose ends and position yourself in the best way possible for your individual income taxes for the tax year 2021. Certain tax benefits end on December 31, 2021, so it’s important to take…
You Can ‘Cure’ a Medicaid Penalty Period by Returning a Gift
Anyone who gifted assets within five years of applying for Medicaid may be subject to a penalty period, but that penalty can be reduced or eliminated if the assets are returned. In order to be eligible for Medicaid, you cannot have recently transferred assets. Congress does not want you to…
IRS Issues Long-Term Care Premium Deductibility Limits for 2022, and They Look Pretty Familiar
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced the amounts taxpayers of different ages can deduct from their 2022 income as a result of buying long-term care insurance, and the figures are almost the same as in 2021. Many types of medical expenses are deductible from your taxes. To claim the…
Medicare Premiums to Increase Dramatically in 2022
Medicare premiums are rising sharply next year, cutting into the large Social Security cost-of-living increase. The basic monthly premium will jump 15.5 percent, or $21.60, from $148.50 to $170.10 a month. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the premium and other Medicare cost increases on November 12,…
Nursing homes can now lift most COVID restrictions on visits
November 16, 2021 WASHINGTON — The government on Friday directed nursing homes to open their doors wide to visitors, easing many remaining pandemic restrictions while urging residents, families and facility staff to keep their guard up against outbreaks. The new guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services instructs…
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