Keith Codron Law Blog

For estates of decedents dying in 2010, the Economic
Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (“EGGTRA”), commonly
referred to as the Bush tax cuts, repealed the federal estate tax and
substituted a modified carryover basis regime for a step-up basis regime for
purposes of determining the cost basis of inherited assets in the hands of an estate
beneficiary.  As a result, a beneficiary
... Read More

It is perfectly legal for a U.S. citizen or resident to hold
money, securities, real estate, insurance policies, annuities, business
interests or other lawful property or investments outside the territorial
jurisdiction of the United States, individually or through the medium of a
trust, corporation, partnership or LLC, in any one or more financial accounts
and in any one or more countries, provided, in all such cases, that the... Read More

TREASURY ISSUES FINAL
REGULATIONS

CONCERNING FOREIGN FINANCIAL ACCOUNT REPORTING

 Final rules have just been issued by the Treasury Department’s
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network [FinCEN] concerning the... Read More

SELLER MUST REFUND THE BREACHING BUYER’S “NON-REFUNDABLE” EARNEST-MONEY DEPOSIT WHERE NO FINANCIAL HARM WAS CAUSED


Recently, a California appellate court, in reversing the Orange County Superior Court, held that a seller may not retain the earnest-money deposit of a buyer who breached a real estate purchase and sale agreement by unilateral cancellation, notwithstanding that the deposit is specifically declared to be “non-refundable” under... Read More

On June 17, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5297, the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 (commonly referred to as the "Small Business Jobs Bill").

In the last few weeks, since H.R. 5297 was passed, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) and Senator Blanche L. Lincoln (D-Arkansas) have been working on a plan concerning the future of the estate tax.  Together they have advanced a proposal requiring the Senate Finance Committee to amend... Read More

Fearful that foreign trusts are being used by "the rich" for tax evasion purposes, IRS is hard at work drafting new proposed regulations covering income tax reporting and filing requirements involving offshore trusts.

This disclosure was just made, on June 22, at a Washington, D.C. Bar program dealing with international tax issues pertaining to high net worth individuals. At the meeting, an IRS official, M. Grace Fleeman, who is a senior technical reviewer in the... Read More

A recent case from Alameda County, California, highlights why it is so important to be clear and unambiguous when drafting testamentary instruments, especially where there are inconsistent dispositive provisions between the documents.

FACTS
In September, 2002, Bud Krusi, a widower, executed a revocable trust and pour-over will. Bud was the father of four adult children: Paul, Peter, Karl and Joan. Bud nominated his son, Paul, to serve as successor trustee of the... Read More

The Health Care Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (H.R. 4872), was passed by Congress on March 25, 2010, and signed into law by President Obama on March 30, 2010. H.R. 4872 amended the previously enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-148), which President Obama signed on March 23, 2010. Taken together, the two laws represent a massive overhaul of the nation's health insurance and delivery systems, and include more... Read More

SUMMARY

As a general rule, in order for interest payments on a home mortgage loan to be deductible, the indebtedness must be the taxpayer's own obligation and not that of another person.  Section 1.163-1(b) of the federal income tax regulations states: "Interest paid by the taxpayer on a mortgage upon real estate of which he is the legal or equitable owner, even though the taxpayer is not directly liable upon the bond or note secured by such mortgage, may be... Read More

SUMMARY
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has affirmed a decision of the U.S. Tax Court in sharply reducing valuation discounts claimed by a married couple with respect to the transfer of limited partnership (LP) interests gifted to their daughters. Holman v. Commissioner (8th Cir. 4/7/2010), 2010-1 USTC ¶60,592, aff'g 130 TC 170. The 8th Circuit agreed with the Tax Court's holding that, in calculating the value of the gifted LP interests,... Read More