The Boss' estate tax bonanza

The latest hit to the U.S. Treasury because there's no federal estate tax comes with the death yesterday of the New York Yankees' owner.

From a tax perspective, George Steinbrenner's passing was impeccable. Or, as the Associated Press put it:

"By dying in 2010, the billionaire and long-time New York Yankees owner's wealth avoids the federal estate tax, likely saving his heirs enough money to field an entire team of Alex Rodriguezes."

With an estimated value of $1.1 billion, the Steinbrenner estate would have faced, depending on how the estate was structured, federal taxes of almost $500 million if The Boss had passed away last year, says the AP.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), a former Major League Baseball pitcher, also noted the tax implications of Steinbrenner's death during today's hearing on the expiring 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

Bunning pointed out that if the Yankees owner had lived into 2011, his estate would have faced $600 million in estate taxes under the terms of the law's impending resurrection.

But now, even if Steinbrenner's heirs immediately sell assets and pay capital gains taxes, the best that the Treasury could hope for, according to AP calculations, would be a $165 million tax bill.

The death of the estate tax, therefore, means a tax break of about $328 million this year.

A-Rod's 2010 salary, notes the wire service, is $32 million.

Related posts:

• A 'responsible' estate tax
  
• Texas billionaire vs. the estate tax
• Estate tax is still dead, but dual options for heirs being considered
• Senate pulls the estate tax plug
• The estate tax, a Dickens of a law
• The heiress, farmer and estate taxes
• Dead estate tax costs U.S. billions (Bankrate Taxes Blog)
• A tax by any other name
• Delaware tax tidbit: estate tax is back
• A look back at the decade in taxes

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• A 'responsible' estate tax
  
• Texas billionaire vs. the estate tax
• Estate tax is still dead, but dual options for heirs being considered
• Senate pulls the estate tax plug
• The estate tax, a Dickens of a law
• The heiress, farmer and estate taxes
• Dead estate tax costs U.S. billions (Bankrate Taxes Blog)
• A tax by any other name
• Delaware tax tidbit: estate tax is back
• A look back at the decade in taxes

Want to tell your friends about this blog post? Click the Tweet This or Digg This buttons below or use the Share This icon to spread the word via e-mail, Facebook and other popular applications. Thanks!

Comments

[Kay]

As I understand it, it depends on what arrangements a person makes for his/her estate. The spousal exemptions apply if all is left to the spouse, but it an estate is parceled out, for example, to children, charities, etc., it changes things. Any estate tax experts out there want to chime in?

[Diana]

I thought George's wife was still alive? Doesn't that make the estate tax a moot point?

[Jenna]

R.I.P George Steinbrenner