Tag: market-value
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Challenging Tax Assessments on Contaminated Property in Florida
Environmental contamination can lower the value of property, but it’s often overlooked when assessing property taxes. In Florida, this is a big issue because there are many sites contaminated with petroleum and other chemicals. Even if the state offers to help clean up the sites, it’s slow and underfunded. Property owners can challenge their assessments…
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Alternate Valuation: The Silver Lining to the Cloud Over the Market?
In 1998, the stock market took a big hit, causing a lot of people to lose money. But one good thing that can come out of it is potential estate tax savings. If someone dies when the stock market is high, their estate might have to pay a lot in taxes. But if the stock…
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Weighing Your Options: Tax Planning for Incentive Stock Options
Stock options are a type of compensation that companies give to their employees. There are two main types of stock options: statutory and nonstatutory. Statutory options give special tax benefits to employees and don’t trigger income, but employers can’t deduct them. Nonstatutory options trigger income for employees and deductions for employers. Nonstatutory options are more…
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Rethinking the Valuation of Family Limited Partnerships Holding Passive Assets
Appraisers have a hard time figuring out how much to discount the value of an interest in a family limited partnership (FLP) because FLPs are different from regular business entities. Non-family members wouldn’t want to buy into an FLP, so the discount could be as high as 80%. But owners wouldn’t want to sell at…
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Kuro and Muben-Lamar In the Eye of the Beholder?
In Florida, when you transfer an interest in real property to a company or individual, you have to pay a tax called the deed tax. This tax is based on the amount of money or other property exchanged in the transfer. This tax has been around since 1931 but has become more important as real…
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Valuing Interest in Tenancies by the Entirety Under Craft
In the case of United States v. Craft, Mr. and Mrs. Craft owned property together. Mr. Craft didn’t pay his taxes, so the IRS said he owed a lot of money. To avoid the IRS taking their property, Mr. Craft gave his share to Mrs. Craft for just $1. But the IRS said this was…
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CrescentDid the Florida Supreme Court Effectively Repeal the Documentary Stamp Tax on Transfers of Real Estate?
The Florida Supreme Court ruled that transfers of real estate from a parent company to its wholly owned subsidiary, without any money changing hands, are not subject to the Florida documentary stamp tax. This means that fewer transfers of Florida real estate will be taxed. According to Florida law, the tax applies to deeds for…
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Beyond the Imminent Sale Doctrine: Valuing Assets with Imbedded Tax Consequences
In the past, Florida courts used to follow a rule that didn’t take into account potential taxes when dividing assets in a divorce. But now, they have changed their approach to make sure that all tax consequences are considered to make things fair for both parties. This change was influenced by federal courts’ decisions on…
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Estate Planning in 2015 and Beyond: No Longer a One-Size-Fits-All Approach
In the past, estate planning for lawyers was focused mainly on reducing estate taxes, without considering other important factors like income taxes, asset protection, and charitable planning. However, recent changes in laws and the economy have made estate planning much more complex. Before 2000, estate and gift tax exemption was only $675,000 and the top…
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Pay Early, Pay Less: Maximizing TPT Credit Availability for Married Couples
The federal estate tax credit allows married couples to save on taxes when one spouse dies within 10 years of the other. This happens because some of the property transferred from the first spouse to the second spouse is not subject to tax in the second spouse’s estate. As a result, the combined estate tax…
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Disastrous Tax Consequences to Avoid When Liquidating an S Corporation
An S corporation is a small business corporation that can be advantageous for small businesses because the business itself is not subject to federal taxation, only the shareholders are. When an S corporation liquidates, the tax consequences for the corporation and its sole shareholder depend on the fair market values and basis of its assets.…
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Post-Mortem Considerations with Foreign Grantor Trusts After H.R. 1, Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts
For a long time, tax experts have helped families with one parent from another country and the kids in the U.S. set up trusts with a foreign corporation to save on taxes. But a new law called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changed the rules, and now everyone has to rethink their trust plans.…
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International Tax and Estate Planning: Use of Check-the-Box Election in the Foreign Corporate-Trust Context
The check-the-box election is really important for international tax and estate planning. One common strategy is to use a foreign corporation owned by a trust to avoid U.S. estate tax on the death of the grantor. But with recent tax law changes, this strategy needs to be adjusted to avoid other tax issues. One way…
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The Taxation of Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have become very popular and valuable in recent years. Cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, is a type of digital money that uses cryptography to keep transactions secure. It’s stored in digital wallets and relies on blockchain technology, which is a way of storing and keeping track of information. This technology is important for…
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Navigating I.R.C. §2036 Tax Planning with Florida Law
For many years, a common technique in estate planning has been to create a partnership or LLC to hold valuable property and then transfer ownership interests to a trust to avoid estate tax. However, the IRS may challenge these transfers as an attempt to pass untaxed wealth to future generations while still maintaining some control…
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Allocation of the Purchase Price in Sales Transactions
As a lawyer, I deal with a lot of important tax and non-tax issues for my clients in business transactions. Some of these issues include things like warranties, indemnification, and restrictive covenants. One important issue that often gets overlooked is the allocation of the purchase price in a transaction, which is required by the tax…
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Disclaimer Statute May Permit Judgment Debtors to Deliver Money to Friends or Family With Nothing to Creditors, But Not Always in Florida
Yes, there may be a way for a judgment debtor in Florida to prevent a judgment creditor’s lien from attaching to inherited assets, but it depends on the debtor’s financial situation. The debtor may be able to use a legal process called a disclaimer to avoid the creditor’s claim, but only if the debtor is…
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The Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis in Florida: A 21st Century Solution
Florida is facing a big problem with lots of people losing their homes because they can’t pay their mortgages. This is causing a lot of problems for the courts and the economy. It’s estimated to cost $9.9 billion per year and affect over 120,000 jobs. The problem is only getting worse, so we need to…
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Termination of Condominium Terminations?
Condominiums in Florida can get old and expensive to repair, especially the ones near the ocean. In 2007, a new law made it easier for 80% of condo owners to agree to sell the building, even if 10% of owners disagreed. This was meant to help older buildings that needed a lot of repairs. In…
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Terrain, Taxes, and Land Trusts: Saving the Florida Panther Through the Use of Conservation Easements
The Florida panther is the official state animal of Florida and the last remaining kind of “Puma” in the eastern United States. The population was severely reduced by hunting and the species was put on the endangered species list in 1973. By 1995, there were only 20 to 30 Florida panthers left in the wild,…
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Understanding the New Florida Community Property Trust, Part I
The Florida Community Property Trust Act provides benefits to married couples by allowing them to have joint ownership of assets in a special trust. This can bring tax advantages when one spouse passes away. Before this act, joint ownership in Florida was more limited. In community property states, assets acquired during marriage are generally considered…
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Cross-Examining the Pension Expert
This article explains how to cross-examine a pension expert in a legal case. It shows that many so-called experts don’t actually understand pension valuation. It also gives criteria for measuring an expert’s expertise, such as their background and training. It explains that actuaries are the most qualified to give opinions on pension value. When questioning…
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Probable Problematic Pitfalls in Preparing Prenuptial Agreements
As more people use prenups, there are lots of cases about them. If you ever need to make one in Florida, be careful of some common problems. First, make sure the prenup says that getting married is the reason for it. Also, both people need to share all their money and income, not just their…
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Mathematics for Imputing Income
Determining alimony in a divorce case is based on factors like how long the marriage was, the ages and health of both people, their education, and their financial resources. Once someone is entitled to alimony, the amount is figured out based on their needs and the other person’s ability to pay. This can get complicated…