I have been asked if there appear to be any changes in federal transfer taxes, whether gift taxes, estate taxes or generation-skipping transfer taxes.The direct answer is “no” but, indirectly, with the additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service, it’s likely that enforcement including audits of estate and gift tax returns will increase. Bloomberg…
New Texas Rule Against Perpetuities
The Texas Legislature has passed HB 654, which is a Bill that does only one thing – it amends Section 112.036 of the Texas Trust Code (a part of the Texas Property Code). It’s on to the Governor, presumably for his signature. Section 112.036 sets out the maximum time that a trust, other than a…
Delay In IRS Tax Filings
Some of you have seen a recent announcement about delays in the IRS deadline to May 17, 2021. On February 24, 2021, I reported on a delay for tax filings for all Texas residents. You may be asking which applies to you. This email is to give you some clarity you won’t get on television,…
Supplement to Texas Disaster – Limited Delay in IRS Filings
The IRS issued a press release IR-2021-43 declaring that victims of this month’s winter storms in Texas will have until June 15, 2021 to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. The IRS has ALSO issued IR-2021-02 which says (I have added emphasis to one part below): “Victims of winter storms…
Texas Disaster – Limited Delay in IRS Filings
The IRS issued a press release IR-2021-43 declaring that victims of this month’s winter storms in Texas will have until June 15, 2021 to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. The IRS announcement says “The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on February 11….
Texas Homestead Creditor Protection and Trusts
Two weeks ago, I wrote about the In re Cyr case out of the Bankruptcy Court in San Antonio. That court held that a home inside a trust was not protected from creditors under the Property Code because the trust did not allow the debtor to live in the home “at no cost.” Instead the…
Homesteads in Trust – In Re Cyr Reversed
Homesteads in Trust Safe from Creditors If… In 2019, the Bankruptcy Court in San Antonio issued an opinion in the case of In re Cyr holding that a home inside a trust was not protected from creditors under the Property Code and the Texas Homestead Exemption. The reason was that the language in the trust…
July 15 Obamacare Deadline – Protective Claims for Refunds
I saw chatter on the ACTEC listserv, did a general search for the issue, and found that many tax professionals are looking at filing “protective claims for refund” in connection with the taxes that are a part of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). In 2012, the Supreme Court said that a mandate requiring individuals to…
NO MORE DELAY – July 15 is IRS Deadline
The IRS is trying to reach everyone to make clear that the postponement of several tax deadlines until Wednesday, July 15, 2020, is it. There have been some stories in the press suggesting the IRS was going to postpone that date. However, there are no more postponements. The July 15 deadline generally applies to all…
IRS Delays FILING and Payment
Last week, some news outlets were incorrectly reporting that you didn’t have to file your income tax returns or pay your income taxes until July 15, 2020. That was wrong. In IRS Notice 2020-17 issued last Wednesday, the IRS delayed only the payment, but not the filing. Realizing the awkward situation that created, on Friday,…