As a small-business owner, you fight for every advantage to find
ways to save money and earn profit. Cutting costs and leveraging
your time efficiently can be the difference between a good year and
a great year. When facing these everyday challenges, you may not
take the time to address a long-term issue—estate planning.
However, if you look ahead and plan your estate carefully, your
family and business will benefit.
Currently, the estate tax is a graduated rate based on an
estate's size and caps at 46 percent. Recent proposals in Congress
have sought to eliminate the estate tax, but each one has failed
when it was brought up for a vote. In fact, many of the wealthiest
families in the U.S. have lobbied against repeal, making reform or
repeal more difficult.
With the recent changes in Congress, the prospect of estate tax
repeal is all but dead for at least the near future. The previous
Congress was unable to make many of the provisions of the current
code permanent, and several will expire in 2010. This makes estate
planning more difficult than ever because many provisions may
expire in as little as four years. If no reform measures are taken,
tax laws could revert to pre-2001 rates and roll back any and all
tax-planning advantages implemented during...
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