[Acrogeokickic]

This will really get the Libs livid.

This year (2010) the death tax is $0...but just for this year. January 1, 2011 it returns with a vengence at 55% on estates over $1 million! So, by (unfortunately) passing away in 2010, Steinbrenner has saved his heirs an estimated $500 million in taxes. The Yankees won't have to be sold to pay the government. Steinbrenner's money belongs to the Steinbrenner family to do with as they wish and not for Comrade Obama to confiscate and "redistribute" as he sees fit.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local...-98418909.html

With Timing of Death, Steinbrenner Family Won't Pay Estate Tax

By MARIA EUGENIA MIRANDA
Updated 2:28 PM EDT, Wed, Jul 14, 2010

The timing of George Steinbrenner’s death may have ensured that the New York Yankees franchise stays in the family.

Because of a lapse in the federal estate tax, Steinbrenner’s family is saving about $500 million that they would have otherwise had to pay Uncle Sam. The 45 percent tax expired in January and starts up again in 2011 at 55 percent.

The 80-year-old Steinbrenner died yesterday after a massive heart attack in Tampa, Fla. He was credited with building the Yankees, perhaps the most storied team in baseball, back to a number 1 franchise during his 37 years as owner. A controversial figure, he was also an iconic figure in New York sports and pop culture.

If Steinbrenner’s family would have had to pay the death tax, which the government formerly collected nine months after the person’s death, they would have likely had to sell their most valuable asset – a 55 percent stake in the Yankees’ parent company.

Other assets, like the Steinbrenner family farm in Ocala, Fla., which brings in about $5 million in revenue a year, or their $4 million home in Tampa, just don’t add up, according to The New York Post.

Only two percent of the population, or about 64,000 estates, makes enough to be subject to the tax, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The repeal of the tax is sapping about $55 billion in revenue from the federal government. This year, about 4,500 families with very large estates will be receiving as much in annual tax reductions as 140 million taxpayers, according to the Washington-based nonprofit.

When former Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie died, his family sold their share in the football franchise to pay the $45 million they owed in taxes.

[maysubers]

From 2001 through 2009, under Pres. Bush, the estate tax was in full force, with rates ranging from 45% to 55%. How did the conservatives feel about "Comrade Bush" confiscating and redistributing that wealth as he saw fit?

I suppose one could say Mr. Steinbrenner was fortunate, but my guess is he had his franchise assets protected, estate taxes or not.

[P1international]

Or maybe the family deliberately stressed out the Boss, so he'd die this year.

[Avoireeideree]

Considering his philantropy, this Lib (and die-hard Yankee fan), is fine with his estate not paying this tax, loophole or for otherwise. The man was a giving machine off the field. It's what, before his return to glory, made me a big fan of the man. I'd point out that after incidents such as the VA Tech shooting and Katrina, "The Boss" gave ahead of MLB, and when the league did make contributions, they equaled the donations of the Yankees. One team gave a million each time, and the league with 30 teams (of which the Yanks were still one) matched it, instead of passing it.

Earlier, even during his ban from the game, he still helped the various communities he was part of. Never publicized. I found out about it from a high school coach/eventual co-worker, who worked for a little league that George gave night lights to for their field. Never a peep in the media. He was close to anonymous. And I would point out it was the city of Tampa, not he or his family, that decided to name the Yankees spring facility after him for all he had done for the region.

Goodbye George. You will be missed for all you did for people, the Yanks and baseball.