The good news: There was no
Mayan apocalypse.
The bad news: You didn’t win the
Powerball.
This past
year will undoubtedly be remembered for several important events – the Supreme
Court’s decision upholding Obamacare, the London Olympics and the reelection of
President Obama – to name a few. A recent article by The Estate Analyst, “The Year in Review – 2012: A Retrospective
of the Whole Shebang,” provides a somewhat comedic overview of this
year’s Supreme Court rulings, Tax Court cases, celebrity estates, and other
interesting events.
One notable tax decision involved the Alabama Waffle House waitress who was given a lottery ticket worth $10 million from a customer. The waitress, her parents, and her siblings set up a corporation, which eventually claimed the winning ticket and elected to receive annual payments of $354,000 for 30 years.
Not surprisingly, other Waffle House employees claimed they were entitled to a share of the winnings because all tips were to be shared. The IRS also claimed its share by finding that the waitress had made a taxable gift by sharing the lottery ticket with her family.
In Dickerson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2012-60 (March 6, 2012), the Tax Court decided that: (1) the customer who gave the waitress the lottery ticket did not make a taxable gift; (2) the waitress’s former Waffle House co-workers were not entitled to any share of the lottery ticket – which was a gift to the waitress and not a tip; and (3) the waitress’s long-standing family agreement to share tickets was not binding, so a taxable gift of 51% of the lottery ticket was made with a value of $1.1 million. A gift tax delinquency of $771,000 was owed with interest and penalties.
To read about the other tax, charitable and estate planning blunders of 2012, be sure to check out this article.
For more information about estate planning in Fullerton, CA, please visit my estate planning website.
Reference: The Estate Analyst (December 2012) “The Year in Review – 2012: A Retrospective of the Whole Shebang”
no! actually if I had ctoornl over your money I would give your kids even share but for anyone under 18 I would put most of their money in an acct until they were 18.. other wise it is not ctoornlled by the person that it is meant for and what I would give to you is some fun money and then the rest to invest in your future like how your mom had it planned originally.. cause it seems like her wishes where not kept by anyone.. I was left an inheritance once and all the leaches where at the door.. I even remember having one conversation with someone saying .. that they would sit and laugh at me because they were just scamming me to get money for themselves and saying how stupid I was.. nice huh
Posted by: King | 02/18/2013 at 03:23 AM