Paul Premack
- Sep 24, 2018
IRA should have designated beneficiary for best tax result
This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Texas Hearst Newspapers on August 17, 2018. An IRA (individual retirement account) is a tax-deferred savings program used by millions of Americans to help fund their retirements. IRAs are great tax and retirement tools, and they need to be integrated into each person’s estate planning. Universally, when an IRA is established and funded, the owner also designates specific individuals to receive the funds in c
Paul Premack
- Sep 17, 2018
Can adult children force sale of the homestead?
This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Texas Hearst newspapers on August 10, 2018. Dear Mr. Premack: My boyfriend was married, but his wife died 8 years ago. He still lives in the house they had together. She did not have a Will, but she did have three adult children from before they got married. Now her kids want him to sell the house so they can get the money from their mother’s half. My boyfriend has been paying the taxes every year. It is not
Paul Premack
- Mar 2, 2018
Should Rancher continue gifting of land?
This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News on January 29, 2018. The original plan was sound, but the law has changed, so you are wise to ask if her gifting program should be modified. Until the law changed on January 1, 2018, her $7 million estate would have been subjected to an estate tax of approximately $600,000 upon her death. Every time she gifted a $14,000 share of her land, the gift reduced the eventual estate tax by $5,600. That can add up with many gi
Paul Premack
- Nov 29, 2017
Recommended Reading on Tax Reform
The National Council on Aging has just posted a blog article regarding tax reform efforts in Washington. The article is signficant and I recommend you read it here. The article makes the case for the proposition that a) Congress knows that its tax reform bill will greatly expand the deficit (by giving large tax breaks mainly to corporations and the already mega-wealthy), and b) that when the deficit does increase, most normal Americans will not remember that the increase is d
Paul Premack
- Nov 7, 2017
Tax Bill hurts Seniors and violates Constitution
This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News on November 6, 2017. examine the 429 page proposal and to express your opinion to your representatives. What are some provisions that may affect Seniors? Estate and Gift Taxes HR 1’s provision on Estate Tax and Gift Tax proposes to double the current exemption amount from $5 million to $10 million per individual, adjusted upward for inflation. The exemption would hold at that level (plus inflation) until 2024, when th
Paul Premack
- Sep 26, 2016
Appraisal Letter should prompt Probate
This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News on September 23, 2016. Dear Mr. Premack: This week I received a letter from the Bexar Appraisal District. It looks like a form letter that went out to lots of people, and says I need to reapply for my homestead and over-65 exemptions or I will lose them. It also tells me that if an owner shown on the District’s list is no longer living, I must provide a copy of the death certificate and probated Will or an Affidavit o
Paul Premack
- May 20, 2016
How an appraisal can help you avoid Capital Gain Taxes on Inherited Property
This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express-News on April 12, 2016. The tax issue you raise deals with payment of capital gain taxes on the sales proceeds from the farm and royalties. You inherited it all, and get a “free step up in basis” on your husband’s separate property portion, his community property portion, and the community property share which was already your asset. You do not mention whether the value of his estate was large enough to be subject to feder
Paul Premack
- Jan 4, 2016
A brief breakdown of 2016 Tax Act and how new adjustments may impact you
This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News on December 29, 2015. Dear Mr. Premack: Congress passed and on December 18 the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (HR 2029) which contains a law called the “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015”. There are a few items in the lengthy Act that may impact you. First, the Act makes permanent your ability to deduct state and local sales taxes on your 1040 tax return. This was scheduled
Paul Premack
- Mar 4, 2015
New IRA Roll Over Rule Explained
This column first appeared in the SA Express-News and online at MySA.com on February 18, 2015. Dear Mr. Premack: I just received a notice from the bank where my traditional IRA is invested. The notice says that “on or after January 1, 2015, you are permitted to roll over only one distribution from an IRA in a 12-month period, regardless of the number of IRAs you own.” I still have some IRA funds in 3 CDs at another bank, and all three CDs mature this year. I had planned to ro
Paul Premack
- Jan 16, 2012
Parents Ask About Legal Issues for Daughter Working Outside U.S.
Dear Mr. Premack: Our daughter has just graduated from college and has taken a job overseas. She will be gone for at least two years. We were trying to help her set things up so both she and we can still access her brokerage account, but the broker told us that they are not willing to maintain an account for her while she lives outside the US. Is there a legal way to set up her account the way that we want? What about her taxes? Does she pay US taxes on her foreign income? –
Paul Premack
- Nov 18, 1989
Estate Tax Breaks Available to Couples
There are many complexities in the estate tax system, but two opportunities for reducing taxes will impact most people. First, the unlimited marital deduction eliminates estate tax on all assets passing to your surviving spouse. There is no dollar limit on the deduction. However, it must be used correctly to avoid bumping the survivor’s estate into a higher tax bracket. Second, the unified credit eliminates estate or gift taxes on up to $600,000 of assets passing to anyone ot
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