Tax Considerations and Estate Planning: Rapid Fire

What this video covers

• Which returns are taxed as ordinary income (up to 37%) versus which get preferential long-term capital gains rates (0/15/20%), and why return of capital is not immediately taxable
• How Treasury, agency, and municipal bond interest are treated at the federal, state, and local levels, and why short-term gains are never capital gains
• The annual gift tax exclusion ($19,000 per donee, $38,000 with gift splitting), the direct-payment exception for tuition and medical bills, and how carryover basis works for gifted securities including the no-man's-land trap
• How the unified gift and estate tax system operates (40% top rate, $15 million lifetime exclusion), what portability requires, and why the unlimited marital deduction requires a U.S. citizen spouse
• Why inherited securities always step up to fair market value at death and are always long-term, and when the alternate valuation date applies
• The distinction between Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship (JTWROS), Tenants in Common (TIC), and Transfer on Death (TOD), including which avoid probate and which stay in the gross estate
• The specified adult rules: who qualifies (age 65+ or 18+ with impairment), the 15-business-day initial hold and 55-business-day maximum hold, and why the hold covers both disbursements and securities transactions