Skip to main content

Don't you dare be late - but the IRS, well....

A form is required for this year (2010) due to the law that phased out the estate-tax (which law "sunsets" on 12/31/10) to get a "step-up" in basis on a portion of the assets of an estate that might otherwise have been subject to the estate-tax. The need for this form was created in 2001 when the law was passed. But nobody (especially the IRS) expected the law to reach 2010 unchanged. Surprise! It did!

So, did the IRS figure out how to deal with this in late 2009? No.

Did the IRS figure out how to deal with this in early 2010? No.

Have they figured it out yet for sure? No.

How many days left in 2010? (15 as I write this).

So, a lawyer friend of mine got his hands on an advance copy of the form (already a previous advance version had been released and withdrawn) and posted it on his blog. [see the link below]

You can read his write-up on the law and go to the link to see the form. But, really, why bother, the IRS will probably change things again. You have until the deadline for filing the 2010 income-tax return (April 15th - in case you forgot) to file this form. You don't have to worry if the person had an estate smaller than $1 million or if nobody died in your family this year. But, why hurry? Who cares about deadlines, certainly not the IRS ... or then again, maybe they do (at least when it's your deadline, not theirs!)

Internal Revenue Service Releases 12/16/2010 Advance Proof Copy of Form 8939 Required for Step-up in Basis for 2010 Deaths « Massachusetts Estate Planning, Probate & Elder Law


Addition after Congress approved the new tax bill. Maybe the IRS really does know what it's doing. The new tax bill contains a provision that allows the Executor of a person who died in 2010 to elect either the no-estate-tax rule of 2010 or the new estate-tax rule. With the new rule, an estate of up to $5 million gets a full step-up in basis and pays no tax. Those with estates larger than that would probably prefer no step-up (or at least the $1.3 million limit of step-up) and no estate-tax. So, perhaps some people will still need the form that the IRS hasn't finished yet. But, most people will probably elect under the new rule and the form won't be needed. Maybe the IRS lawyers were up on Capitol Hill pushing this part of the new law to Congressional staffers.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Clifton B. Kruse, Jr., Leading Elder Law Attorney, Dies at 74

Clifton B. Kruse , Jr., a revered elder law attorney who was admired as much for his kindness and generosity to fellow practitioners as for his grasp of the law, died December 30, 2008, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was 74. The cause was complications from Alzheimer's disease. For many in the field, Kruse set the standard for all that an elder law attorney can and should be. One of elder law's founding fathers, he combined a gentlemanly charm, warmth and caring with one of the sharpest and most ethical of legal minds. Wrote Arizona elder law attorney Robert Fleming in a tribute , "In my third of a century of elder law practice I have never met another lawyer who managed to pull together sophistication, heartfelt empathy, intellectual rigor and courtly manner in the same fashion Clifton Kruse projected. He did it, to all appearances, effortlessly. He was a friend and mentor to many in the elder law community (I count myself among those legions)." Kruse was the e...

Knee Surgery OK for Octogenarians

Knee replacement surgery can improve the quality of life even for very elderly patients, according to a study presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) . The study found that patients in their 80s can benefit both physically and socially from knee replacement surgery, also called total knee arthroplasty (TKA), once thought too risky for the very elderly. “As patients are living longer, there is an upward trend in the demand for quality of life among the elderly population,” said Edsel Arandia, M.D., lead author of the study and an orthopaedic surgeon at Philippine Orthopaedic Center and a Fellow at Singapore General Hospital. “As patients age, debilitating diseases like arthritis of the knee begin to develop. We conducted this study to determine the viability of TKA in octogenarians and to learn whether their quality of life improves after TKA.” Dr. Arandia and his team reviewed data from 128 patients older than 80 years of age wh...

Harry's Law gets Medicaid Planning All Wrong

I usually enjoy David Kelley's crazy law-related television shows like Boston Legal and Harry's Law. They are great fun and often give some good portrayals of lawyers and legal issues. But, I'm always laughing at how a client comes in to the office in the morning and somehow they are in Court in the afternoon - sometimes with a jury there. It takes years to get into Court most of the time and at least several days to get a jury together and ready for a trial. But, I'll allow some literary license to TV to keep the story moving. But, I don't like it when they get the law completely wrong and especially when they have the lawyers participate in fraud. Last week's episode of Harry's Law got the Medicaid rules wrong, and put lawyers in a bad light. Let me explain. First, Kelley got Medicaid law all wrong. The couple in question only had a house and the husband needed nursing home care. The wife said she needed to get a divorce to save the house. This is wron...