We all know the saying about death and taxes being the only certainty in life. Well, ironically, there is very little certainty when it comes to the “Death Taxes.” Just this week, I received a newsletter from an Illinois attorney, Manish Bhatia, in which he explained how President Obama’s new tax proposal included changes to the federal estate and gift tax laws. In Minnesota, there have been recent discussions regarding changes to Minnesota estate taxes. Our very own Jamie Held wrote an article on these potential MN estate tax changes last December and on April 24, 2013, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed HR677, which among other things creates a Minnesota Gift Tax. [note: Article 7 covers Estate and Gift Taxes, and Article 7 Section 10 deals specifically with the proposed Gift Tax.]
I know, it is a reoccurring theme in all of my Epilawg articles, but the takeaway here is this: Although these bills and proposals are not laws (yet), our Minnesota readers who are concerned with estate anda gift taxes should (1) take some time to review their current estate planning documents and then (2) reach out to discuss their documents and the proposed legislative changes with their legal, tax and financial advisors.
