Death'$ perfect timing (No death tax on Steinbrenner's estate)

NY Post ^ | 7/14/10 | BRAD HAMILTON and JEANE MacINTOSH

[jimbo123]

He's a winner even in death.

George Steinbrenner died six months after the federal estate tax expired, saving his wife and four children about half a billion dollars -- and essentially ensuring they can keep the Yankees.

The tax, a 45 percent hit that lapsed in January due to lawmaker bungling, is set to be renewed in 2011 -- at 55 percent.

Had he died in 2009, his family would have owed about $500 million; if he had survived until 2011, the bill would have been $600 million.

[ClearCase_guy]

I wonder how many old rich folks are going to shoot themselves in December?

[jimbo123]

I wonder how many liberal democrats are going to off themselves in November?

[Dedbone]

I wonder how many are going to get ‘offed’.

[Alberta's Child]

Interesting article. It's worth noting that owners of professional sports teams are among those most seriously impacted by the estate tax. A guy like George Steinbrenner is typical of a lot of these owners -- especially NFL owners, since the NFL prohibits corporate ownership of teams. These teams represent huge assets owned by a small number of people, and the values of these teams have grown exponentially over the years. Steinbrenner, for example, purchased the Yankees for $10 million in 1973 -- and the team is probably worth about $1 billion today.

I remember reading a great article some years ago about the decision by Art Modell to move the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, where they became the Baltimore Ravens. If I remember correctly, estate tax considerations were among the key factors in that move. Modell basically needed a revenue guarantee that would help ensure that his family would be able to pay the estate taxes after his death.

[caver]

“I wonder how many are going to get ‘offed’.”

That’s what I see is going to happen.

[pnh102]

So the fact that Mr. Steinbrenner's estate was not taxed into oblivion is considered "bungling." Maybe it will be poetic justice if when the authors of this piece pass on, their own estates would be taxed so much that their offspring won't see a dime, especially if it involves selling off valuable family assets in order to pay the tax.

The death tax is beyond cruel, especially in light of the fact that we have an income tax. I would presume that Mr. Steinbrenner paid a whole heck of a lot of money in tax (this IS New York City after all), so why would his family getting to keep even a little of that money be such a bad thing?

[pnh102]

And another thing. Where was the outcry of Ted Kennedy’s family not paying any estate tax?

[Trust but Verify]

How does anyone know how much Steinbrenner ‘would have paid’? Presumably he did what most ultra-rich people did: He employed an army of lawyers and accountants to secure his assets in a way that would shield him from those death taxes.

[Jack Hammer]

I wonder how many FAMILIES of rich old folks shot themselves when their nearest and dearest died a few days - or a few months - short of January 1, 2010?

[Scoutmaster]

I wonder how many old rich folks are going to shoot themselves in December?

I wonder how many elderly owners of family farms are going to shoot themselves in December.

Large family farms are notoriously cash-poor, but wealthy in land and machinery. Large agri-corps or land developers are waiting like wolves at the door.

So you think "if I die before January 1, 2011, my estate doesn't pay any tax and the farm passes down to my children; if I die on or after January 1, 2010, my children have to sell my farm to pay estate taxes so that NASA can help Muslim nations feel good about their contributions to math and science. Maude? Would you hand me the 12-gauge and find some errands you need to run in town?"

[Leisler]

That’s why before you die, you, your estate, buys life insurance from a death tax supporter, and Democrat, Warren Buffet.

[Alberta's Child]

I'm pretty sure Federal law now provides a mechanism for exempting agricultural assets from estate taxes. If my knowledge is accurate (and I admit it might be outdated), those "family farms" are exempt from estate taxes -- as long as the family is willing to keep the farm operating after the death of the previous owner.

If you ever hear stories about families that were "forced to sell the family farm in order to pay the estate taxes," I'm willing to bet that what really drove the sale was the fact that the next generation had pursued different careers and wasn't willing to keep the farm running on their own.

[G Larry]

Ah....Rev. Al isn’t going to be happy....
This is the same point Rush made yesterday and Al was none too happy.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

An inheritance tax is one of the ten planks of Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto.

Hint hint.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Taxes = asset forfeiture.

[Scoutmaster]

Thanks for the information.

It's one of those cases, though, where I'm torn.

You're asset-rich and cash poor because you own a farm, and (if you're correct) you don't pay estate tax.

What if you're asset-rich and cash poor because you own some huge tract that's been in the family for generations and is rented for use as a summer camp . . . to the Boy Scouts.

There's something wrong about one family not having to pay estate tax and the other family having to pay - which means the problem is with the estate tax in general.

You (or your ancestor) worked and saved and paid taxes in life. Now the government gets half of it at your death so that it can be distributed to Obama's buddies?

I understand the philosophical problem with dynasties (although we still have them thanks to different kinds of trusts; just ask the Kennedys). The simple fact that one family usually has more than one child naturally distributes wealth.

[Alberta's Child]

Part of the rationale for the "family farm" exemption was that it helped address a specific provision of the Federal estate tax law that made it especially onerous for farm owners. Because the value of an estate at the time of death is based on the "highest and best use" of the deceased person's property -- regardless of how the property was being used at the time. As a result of this provision, a farm that was worth maybe $500,000 in its agricultural state -- but might be worth $10 million if it were subdivided and developed as an office park, residential subdivision, retail center, etc. -- was calculated in the deceased person's estate as a $10 million asset, not a $500,000 asset.

The agricultural exemption was aimed at addressing this stark injustice and encouraging small farm owners to preserve their land for agricultural use -- but only if the agricultural use of the land was going to continue under the ownership of the heirs of the deceased.