My Father-in-law passed away recently, he left us his accounts and house in the will, is there a tax on these?

Answer 1

If the total net estate is over $1 million, excluding anything left to charity or a spouse, then there are estate taxes to pay. You never pay taxes on something you inherit, the estate pays it.

You don't say what state he lived in, so I'll only address federal estate issues. There may be transfer taxes on the house.

What do you mean by "accounts"? Bank accounts? Brokerage or mutual fund accounts? IRA accounts? If you mean an IRA, then yes, you must pay income taxes unless it's a Roth IRA. If you inherit stocks, then your cost basis is usually the value on his date of death.

Answer 2

No estate tax unless total estate is over 2 million. No income tax on inheritances - except for IRA's and any post death income will be taxed to you on Form 1041 Schedule K-1. Your cost basis for capital gain purposes gets stepped up to date of death values.

Answer 3

Unless the value goes over a million dollars, it's tax free. Go to your banker and get the specifics for your State. He will give you the advice you need for free. Even if you have to pay a professional for advice, it's money well spent to protect your windfall. I just went through this.

Answer 4

There might be state inheritance taxes even if the estate is below the limit for paying federal inheritance tax.

Answer 5

yeah because it will be your house