My grandmother left me a lot of money and stocks when she died. Do I have to pay taxes on it?

Answer 1

There is no federal income tax to the recipient of an inheritance. Some states do tax those funds. Your grandmothers estate may have to pay taxes on those funds if her total estate was over $2 million. As for the stocks you will want to find out what their trading value was on the date of death for your grandmother as that is the adjusted basis when you sell them. If the cash was in some type of account that gained interest after her date of death and that interest passed to you than you will pay tax on the interest. You surely should consult a tax professional familiar with these issues before doing your taxes at least this year. They may save you thousands of dollars by doing this correctly.

Answer 2

Federally - No, as the individual receives the inheritance "free" of taxes.

Your grandmother's estate may owe tax depending on the size of her estate including any state estate taxes, if any.

State - depends on the state but, generally, "most" states follow the federal rule about inheritances but "some" states do not.

You need to consult with your accountant!

Answer 3

You do not have to pay taxes on any of the money that she left you. However, if you invest it and earn any money on it, then you will have to pay taxes on the earnings in the future.

For the stocks, you do not have to pay any taxes on them until you sell the stocks. You will have to pay taxes on the profits from when you inherited the stocks though.

This is just a general answer.

Answer 4

Yes...you'll probably owe something to whatever state the estate is in. You would only get a federal tax if the estate is valued at more than $600,000 (maybe a higher number NOW---that was the figure when my mom died in 2000).
Either way...it sucks....great example of government "double-dipping" on money's they already collected taxes on.

Answer 5

Surely S....

Answer 6

yep