Don’t Miss Out on Estate Tax Break
By electing to have the “portability” provision apply to estates of taxpayers who have passed away in the previous three tax years, the IRS is helping taxpayers who missed an important deadline for estate tax purposes. Traditionally, this special tax treatment would be available only if a timely federal estate tax return had been filed.
The window on this tax-saving opportunity will soon disappear. You only have until December 31st to make the last-chance election.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) made several tax provisions permanent. It also preserved the portability provision where a surviving spouse can elect to use any unused portion of the exemption of the estate of the deceased spouse. Hence, a couple can effectively shield upward of $10 million in assets regardless of which couple dies first.
Under the new IRS Revenue Procedure, the portability election can still be made for an estate of a spouse who died in an open tax year. This includes estates of spouses dying in 2011, 2012, or 2013.
See Small Business Strategies, Don’t Miss the Boat on Estate Tax Break, Business Management Daily, Nov. 30, 2014.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.