Estate Taxes And The Cliff: Would You ‘Pull… The Plug On Grandma To Save Tax Dollars?

With all the talk of what will happen when the U.S. goes over the fiscal cliff, one particular detail has been left out of the national discussion: the estate tax (a.k.a. the “death tax”). Currently the estate tax is set at 35 percent, and exempts any estate worth up to 5 million dollars from having to pay. But when the nation goes off the cliff next week, the exemption will drop down to estates valued at up to a million dollars and the rate will jump from 35 to 55 percent. This all inspired CNBC’s John Carney to wonder: are rich people pulling the plug on granny en masse to avoid paying higher taxes?

read more: http://www.mediaite.com/online/estate-taxes-and-the-cliff-would-you-pull-the-plug-on-grandma-to-save-tax-dollars/