For Most American Taxpayers, Life Just Got Much More Complex
Wall Street Journal (06/01/01) Vol. 21, No. 5 p.60; McKinnon, John D.
The tax bill recently enacted by Congress may make people's
lives more complicated, contrary to what President Bush argued. For one
thing, the estate tax will be gradually reduced through 2009 and
eliminated for 2010, but will then reappear in 2011--making wills and
other documents much more challenging, according to tax experts. Even
if the repeal becomes permanent, there will be increases in taxes on the
capital gains on estate assets. However, the complications will mean
good business for tax professionals--and the basic income-tax changes
and some of the new breaks will interact with the alternative minimum
tax to make things difficult for taxpayers. Lawyer Sanford Schlesinger
says that the bill has created a sense of uncertainty.