What does the new, federal health care law, the Affordable Care Act, mean for seniors? How will it affect Medicare recipients? Throughout the health care reform debate of the past few years, Medicare has been a significant issue. The Affordable Care Act (“Act”), the law passed by Congress and signed by President Obama this spring, seeks to provide better quality and more affordable care to seniors and Medicare recipients. [Read more…]
Congress Does Unthinkable by NOT Addressing Estate Tax
Who wants to ring in the New Year with uncertainty? Well, that’s what Congress did by not getting around to extending the estate tax before December 31, 2009. Many experts believed this would NEVER happen. I discussed this in several past blog entries in September and December of last year.
Flashback to 2001: At that time, a largely Republican coalition in Congress tried to repeal the estate tax completely, but they were unable to get past a filibuster. So, instead, the changes were put into the tax code when then-President George W. Bush signed a bill that was designed to phase out the estate tax so that by January 1, 2010, the estate tax would no longer exist. However, since this was done through the tax code, Congress would have to revisit the changes within ten years, or the estate tax would come back into effect on January 1, 2011, at a higher rate. Generally all experts in the field believed that Congress would act and not allow the estate tax to disappear completely in 2010. But, Congress was so busy debating health care reform this fall that we have entered 2010, and the estate tax is temporarily gone. [Read more…]
Congress is Down to the Last Hour When it Comes to the Estate Tax Sunset Rules
Tick, tick, tick… The clock is ticking for Congress to act to extend/amend the current estate tax laws. They have about three weeks to prevent the federal estate tax to disappear all together in 2010. Experts agree that it is unlikely for Congress not to act.
