You may or may not have noticed but the winds of change in Bothell’s legal community are blowing. One Bothell law firm has merged into a large Bellevue firm, and it appears that another legal landmark is changing directions as well. While we don’t practice in all of the same areas as these other firms,… Continue Reading
Author Archives: John
No Bankruptcy Protection for Inherited IRAs
Back in January I wrote a post about a case going before the Supreme Court about whether an inherited IRA would be protected in bankruptcy. Well, it’s June and that means the Court is churning out its end-of-term decisions, including the inherited IRA case In Re Clark. In short, inherited IRAs do not receive protection… Continue Reading
Bitcoin Taxed As Property
The IRS issued a notice yesterday stating that it will view virtual, or cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Altcoin and Litecoin as property and not as currency. This is presumably good news for those who have invested in Bitcoin as any transactions will be taxed at capital gains rates, although capital losses will be limited. However,… Continue Reading
Only One IRA Rollover Per Year
In a recent decision (Bobrow v. Commissioner, decided January 28, 2014), the U.S. Tax Court held that taxpayers may only make one tax-free IRA rollover per year, no matter how man IRA’s the taxpayer owns. The taxpayer in Bobrow had two IRAs and made a withdrawal from each of them. He re-deposited the funds within… Continue Reading
Save Taxes With a Trust
Many families have used trusts for decades to pass wealth to spouses, children and grandchildren with reduced or no estate or gift tax burden. However, today the top income tax bracket is 39.6% plus the new 3.8% surtax on investment income for high earners (total top federal income tax rate 43.4%). One such earner is… Continue Reading