rochelle_ann...
Happily, your inheritance won't be subject to any taxes.
I took this question because of personal experience with a
similar situation. Some years ago, I inherited $40,000 USD,
and one of my first questions to the lawyer was how much the
estate tax might be. None, I was told.
This article from Wikipedia explains the current US law, and
outlines the exemptions which are applied to the gross value
of the estate, showing, in the table under the section titled,
'Exemptions and tax rates', that the 2006 tax credit is two
million dollars. Estates that have a lesser value than this
are not subject to inheritance tax.
As for state taxes, they note:
"Many U.S. states also impose their own estate or inheritance
taxes (see Ohio estate tax for an example). Some states
"piggyback" on the federal estate tax law in regard to estates
subject to tax (i.e., if the estate is exempt from federal
taxation, it is also exempt from state taxation). Some states'
estate taxes, however, operate independently of federal law,
so it is possible for an estate to be subject to state tax
while exempt from federal tax."
More on the page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inheritance_tax
This page from RetirementLiving.com notes the various taxes
imposed by all 50 states. As for Alaska, it says:
"There is no inheritance tax and the estate tax is limited to
federal estate tax collection."
http://www.retirementliving.com/RLstate1.html
Finally, as for New Zealand, this article from The Telegraph
notes:
"Britain now has one of the most punitive inheritance tax regimes
in the world.
Australia, New Zealand and Canada abolished theirs years ago and
in America there are plans to phase out all federal estate duties
by 2010 [as can be seen in the Wikipedia table I referred you to
previously], although individual states levy their own taxes."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/24/ntory24.xml
As for conversion, based on the rates today, as calculated on the
gocurrency.com website:
62000 New Zealand Dollar(s) = 37751.7 American Dollar(s)
1 USD = 1.64231 NZD
1 NZD = 0.608898 USD
http://www.gocurrency.com/cgi-bin/fxcmcalc?value=62%2C000&base=NZD&target=USD&x=47&y=13
A general article, from the same site, on currency conversion while
travelling, may be of some value to you:
http://www.gocurrency.com/travelers-tips.htm
I hope that makes your day!
sublime1-ga
Additional information may be found from further exploration
of the links provided above, as well as those resulting from
the Google searches outlined below.
Searches done, via Google:
"inheritance tax"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22inheritance+tax%22
"inheritance OR estate tax" "new zealand"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22inheritance+OR+estate+tax%22+%22new+zealand%22
"inheritance tax" alaska
://www.google.com/search?q=%22inheritance+tax%22+alaska |
Request for Answer Clarification by
rochelle_ann-ga
on
23 Jun 2006 23:32 PDT
Thanks for the info! This is great news, however I'm still needing a
little more 'proof' that this is the case. Some of the evidence you
provided to support no taxes on inheritance are not from exactly
'reputable' sources, and some are outdated. If they are still current
and true, then this is great news. I don't feel though, that my main
concerns have been answered, namely:
1. I'm a US resident, but my inheritance is overseas. This is not a
straightforward case (as in the links you referred me to) of a US
citizen receiving inheritance from a US estate. My inheritance will
be coming from abroad (New Zealand), to me, in the US.
2. The info you provided on inheritance tax in NZ was an article
written 2 years ago in a British tabloid - I would prefer some more
'concrete' information. As we all know, the press is not always
accurate - and the paragraph you refer to is not referencing any
specific New Zealand tax law. Again, if it's accurate and true, then
this is great.
3. If the references you provided all ring true, and I do not have to
pay any federal OR state tax on my inheritance, does this mean that I
get to keep the full amount? or do I have to claim it as income on my
next tax return where I'll get heavily taxed anyway?
Thanks for your help in answering this, and I look forward to hearing
from you further!
Rochelleann
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Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
24 Jun 2006 15:01 PDT
Rochelleann...
As I noted there are innumerable other results from the Google searches
I linked to which confirm the validity of the information I provided.
Here's one from the New Zealand Government's Department of Immigration
website:
"If you are purchasing property and you come from a larger US city,
you will find that your housing dollar goes a lot further in New
Zealand, even with the rising New Zealand dollar.
When trying to compare cost of living, some things to remember are:
[...]there is no inheritance tax."
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/nzopportunities/unitedstates/keydifferences/costofliving.htm
Here's another, from the Amberland website for professional property
investors:
"And finally in terms of taxation advantages, there is no inheritance
or estate tax in New Zealand making the purchase and ownership of
property attractive to retirees, expatriates, second homers and of
course, property investors."
http://www.amberlamb.com/index.php/a/m/guide-to-new-zealand-for-property-investors/
I'm fully aware that you're a US citizen, living in Alaska, and
receiving an inheritance from NZ. That's why I verified that NZ
will not be taxing the estate or the inheritance, nor will the US,
since the inheritance is less than the amount which qualifies for
taxation, no matter where it's being received from. And Alaska
also has no inheritance tax. This is further supported by this
page from the Alaska Legal Resource Center resource on the Touchngo
website, which documents the Alaska Statutes:
"Chapter 30. Inheritance and Transfer Taxes
[Repealed, Sec. 1 ch 242 SLA 1970]."
http://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title43/Chapter30.htm
And, as the answer linked in the comment by myoarin-ga notes, about
reporting "other income" on line 21 of form 1040:
"TIP: On Line 21, Other Income, do not report any non-taxable amounts
such as child support, money or property that was inherited, willed to
you or received as a gift or life insurance proceeds received because
of a person?s death."
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf
That's from the 2005 1040 form, but, as I noted earlier, this law has
not changed. In the year that I received my inheritance, I did not
report the amount at all on my income taxes.
I hope that puts you further at ease...time to celebrate!
sublime1-ga
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