Gross Estate

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Related to Gross Estate: net estate, Unified tax credit

Gross Estate

All the real and Personal Property owned by a decedent at the time of his or her death.

The calculation of the value of the gross estate is the first step in the computation that determines whether any estate tax is owed to federal or state governments. Federal and state laws define gross estate for purposes of taxation. Under federal law, the gross estate includes proceeds of life insurance policies that are payable to the decedent's estate, as well as policies to which the decedent retained "incidents of ownership" until his or her death, such as the right to change beneficiaries or to borrow against the cash surrender value of the policy.

Cross-references

Estate and Gift Taxes.

References in periodicals archive ?

An estate tax return (generally IRS Form 706) must be filed if the gross estate exceeds the "exemption equivalent" (applicable exclusion) provided by the estate tax unified credit ($2,000,000 in 2006 to 2008; $3,500,000 in 2009; and $1,000,000 in 2011 and thereafter: see the Estate Tax Unified Credit table in Appendix A).

Chapter 15: Estate tax

(8ex) Where the decedent made a "net gift" (i.e., a gift made on the condition that the donee pay the gift tax), the amount includable in the gross estate is the total value of the property transferred.

Part I: Federal income taxation

(1) If the death benefit is payable to annuitant's estate, its value is includable in his gross estate, under IRC Section 2033, as a property interest owned by him at the time of his death.

Annuities and living proceeds

In determining the adjusted gross estate, we can subtract the decedent's debts, such as loans, notes, and mortgages, plus the debts of the estate, such as funeral and administrative expenses.

Federal estate tax

* Charitable Deduction: If the decedent leaves property to a qualifying charity, it is deductible from the gross estate.

Time to repeal? It's unclear whether estate tax will be repealed in 2010

Moreover, if the grantor dies during the period of her retained interest, the fair market value at the date of her death will be included in her gross estate.

The estate tax non-gap: why repeal a "voluntary" tax?

The estate concluded that this cost should reduce the value of the IRAs in the gross estate. To support its position, the estate cited the following situations where courts have allowed reductions in the value of assets in the gross estate: cases allowing future tax detriments or benefits; cases allowing lack of marketability discounts; and cases allowing reductions in value for zoning or decontamination of real property.

IRAs in the gross estate not reduced for income taxes

If he holds the annuity until death, it will be included in the gross estate and may ultimately be subject to estate taxes.

When the taxman gets his money

Figure 42.2 illustrates the means by which the adjusted value of Charles' gross estate is calculated.

Chapter 42: Family-owned business deduction

SCIN's are not included in the seller's gross estate.

The business of keeping the family business

Generally, some or even all of the value of jointly owned property may be includable in the decedent's gross estate for Federal estate tax purposes.

Joint ownership of property: two's company, but is three a crowd?

While the total value of all four parcels equaled approximately 68 percent of the adjusted gross estate, the estate elected to apply the rule to only one of the parcels, which represented 15 percent of the adjusted gross estate, because it was the only parcel that would continue to be operated as a farm.