Taxes
So you won the Lottery, Now What?
So you won the lottery? Now what? First Things First Time Limit to collect the money, Don’t rush. Bearer instrument. Sign the back Make copies of the ticket—do not run around town with the actual ticket Do not tell everybody. Keeping it private is one of your biggest assets. How much did you win.
BE SKEPTICAL WHEN GETTING AN EMAIL OR PHONE CALL FROM THE I.R.S.
In their never-ending pursuit with finding new ways to scare and defraud honest taxpayers, criminals are now employing a new scam. This one involves reaching out to citizens (either by telephone or via the internet), identifying themselves as I.R.S. agents, and making baseless criminal allegations demanding immediate payment of taxes owed. Once more, many scammers have been able to modify Caller I.D. readouts and in using the official federal agency’s logo embedded within their fraudulent emails in order to pull off this deception. This trick is currently being carried out across the United States, and has needlessly stressed out and swindled a large number of middle class families and retirees. According to the Internal Revenue Service, agents do not initially contact taxpayers either by phone or by email regarding a tax matter. Instead, residents are first notified by regular mail. Only after someone has been formally contacted by traditional methods do they confer electronically. If you or a loved one receives any type of phone call or email like this, the first step in taking action is to contact your local I.R.S. field office. Their number can be found in the white pages, or online. Second, you can notify the U.S. Treasury Inspectors at (800) 366-4484 and provide them with as much relevant information as you can. Another option to take in fighting back is to simply email: phishing@irs.gov and copy/paste the suspect email message. Lastly, the I.R.S. recommends that you also contact the Federal Trade Commission and activate a consumer complaint by filing an “I.R.S. telephone scam” report. Their main website is:...Using Qualified Personal Residence Trusts To Lower Your Taxes
Clintons seek to avoid a tax they once supported Bill and Hillary are reportedly using tax advantaged strategies used by multimillionaires. Read More at fortune.com Qualified Personal Residence Trusts – Bezaire, Ledwitz & Associates, APC Qualified Personal Residence Trusts, or QPRTs (pronounced “cue-pert”), are Advanced Estate Planning instruments that help clients transfer their principal residence at a lower Estate/Gift Tax value. Clients benefit from a QPRT’s by transferring their principal residence into an Irrevocable Trust (meaning that the trust cannot be amended, modified, or revoked once it has been created and funded), and retaining a right to live in that residence for a period of years. The named beneficiaries of the trust will receive the residence from the trust when the term ends, should the Grantor survive until that time. Read More at Bezaire, Ledwitz & Associates, APC Video – Qualified Personal Residence Trusts, Bezaire, Ledwitz & Associates, APC [wp_lightbox_ultimate_youtube_video_embed videoid=”16BkGj4A2ls” playlist=”” width=”853″ height=”480″ hd=”1″ autoplay=”1″ display_control=”1″ fullscreen=”1″ autohide=”2″ theme=”dark” show_suggested_video=”0″ use_https=”” enable_privacy=”” show_logo=”1″ showinfo=”1″ auto_popup=”” direct_embed=”” anchor_type=”image” text=”” source=”https://smartestateplans.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/qprt.png”] Qualified Personal Residence Trust Viewpoints on Financial Planning A qualified personal residence trust is ideal for anyone who has a substantial estate and is expected to face future transfer taxes. One of the best tools to manage future transfer tax liability for wealthy families is a qualified personal residence trust (QPRT). Read More at http://www.bbt.com/bbtdotcom/wealth/retirement-and-planning/trusts-and-estates/qualified-personal-residence-trust.page The ABCs of QPRTs A popular estate planning technique in today’s growing real estate market is to transfer a residence to a qualified personal residence trust (QPRT) to reduce the size of the estate. This article provides a case study on the mechanics...What is a 1035 Exchange?
A 1035 exchange is a provision in the tax code that most people have not heard about. It allows for the direct exchange of accumulated funds in a life insurance policy or annuity for another life insurance policy or annuity without creating a taxable event.