If you gave any one person gifts in 2007 that valued at more than $12,000, you must report the total gifts to the Internal Revenue Service and may have to pay tax on the gifts.

When filtering reports in QuickBooks, you may want to select most of the items on a particular list, but not all items to appear on your report. First choose the "selected" option from the list (selected accounts, selected names, etc).

To password protect your QuickBooks data file click on Company in the menu bar, then Set Up Users. From here, you can assign a password for the main (Administrator) account in QuickBooks. You can also set up user accounts, passwords, and different levels of access if you have multiple people using your QuickBooks file. Make sure you keep your newly created password in a safe place (just in case you forget it!)

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 reduces the estate tax every year until 2010.

Please take a look at the changes in the estate tax exemptions in the next few years.

Year Exemption Top Tax Rate
2007 $2,000,000 45%
2008 $2,000,000 45%
2009 $3,500,000 45%
2010 n/a 0%
2011 $1,000,000 55%

As you can see in 2010 the estate tax is repealed, meaning it is gone. If a wealthy family member happens to pass away in 2010 then you may sidestep the estate tax.

However, the repeal is temporary. That is, if your wealthy benefactor makes it to 2011, the entire estate tax is scheduled to be back with just a $1 million exemption. You see, in order to meet budgetary restrictions; the Tax Relief act contains a so-called “sunset” provision that brings the old estate tax rules back in full force in 2011.