Related Research Articles
An investor is a person that allocates capital with the expectation of a future financial return or to gain an advantage. Types of investments include: equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, token, derivatives such as put and call options, futures, forwards, etc. This definition makes no distinction between the investors in the primary and secondary markets. That is, someone who provides a business with capital and someone who buys a stock are both investors. An investor who owns a stock is a shareholder.
An individual retirement account (IRA) in the United States is a form of "individual retirement plan", provided by many financial institutions, that provides tax advantages for retirement savings. An individual retirement account is a type of "individual retirement arrangement" as described in IRS Publication 590, individual retirement arrangements (IRAs). The term IRA, used to describe both individual retirement accounts and the broader category of individual retirement arrangements, encompasses an individual retirement account; a trust or custodial account set up for the exclusive benefit of taxpayers or their beneficiaries; and an individual retirement annuity, by which the taxpayers purchase an annuity contract or an endowment contract from a life insurance company.
An employee stock option (ESO) is a label that refers to compensation contracts between an employer and an employee that carries some characteristics of financial options.
In law, vesting is to give an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vested right to an asset that cannot be taken away by any third party, even though one may not yet possess the asset. When the right, interest, or title to the present or future possession of a legal estate can be transferred to any other party, it is termed a vested interest.
In the United Kingdom, Inheritance Tax is a transfer tax. It was introduced with effect from 18 March 1986, replacing Capital Transfer Tax.
An asset-protection trust is any form of trust which provides for funds to be held on a discretionary basis. Such trusts are set up in an attempt to avoid or mitigate the effects of taxation, divorce and bankruptcy on the beneficiary. Such trusts are therefore frequently proscribed or limited in their effects by governments and the courts.
Prior to 2006, a private annuity trust (PAT) was an arrangement to enable the value of highly appreciated assets, such as real estate, collectables or an investment portfolio, to be realized without directly selling them and incurring substantial taxes from their sale.
In United States patent law, a reexamination is a process whereby anyone—third party or inventor—can have a U.S. patent reexamined by a patent examiner to verify that the subject matter it claims is patentable. To have a patent reexamined, an interested party must submit prior art, in the form of patents or printed publications, that raises a "substantial new question of patentability". The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act makes substantial changes to the U.S. patent system, including new mechanisms for challenging patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. One of the new mechanisms is a post-grant review proceeding, which will provide patent challengers expanded bases on which to attack patents.
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate of a person who has died.
An indexed annuity in the United States is a type of tax-deferred annuity whose credited interest is linked to an equity index—typically the S&P 500 or international index. It guarantees a minimum interest rate if held to the end of the surrender term and protects against a loss of principal. An equity index annuity is a contract with an insurance or annuity company. The returns may be higher than fixed instruments such as certificates of deposit (CDs), money market accounts, and bonds but not as high as market returns. Equity Index Annuities are insured by each State's Guarantee Fund; coverage is not as strong as the insurance provided by the FDIC. For example, in California the fund will cover "80% not to exceed $250,000." The guarantees in the contract are backed by the relative strength of the insurer.
United States trust law is the body of law regulating the legal instrument for holding wealth known as a trust.
A charitable remainder unitrust is an irrevocable trust created under the authority of Internal Revenue Code § 664 ("Code"). This special, irrevocable trust has two primary characteristics: (1) Once established, the CRUT distributes a fixed percentage of the value of its assets to a non-charitable beneficiary ; and (2) At the expiration of a specified time, the remaining balance of the CRUTs assets are distributed to charity. The trustee determines the fair market value of the CRUT's assets at the time of contribution, and thereafter on the applicable valuation date. The fixed annuity percentage must be at least 5% and no more than 50% of the fair market value of the assets in the corpus. The remainder must be at least 10% of the fair market value of the assets contributed to the CRUT. Code Section 664(d)(1) sets the federal income tax requirements for a charitable remainder unitrust.
MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc., 549 U.S. 118 (2007), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States involving patent law. It arose from a lawsuit filed by MedImmune which challenged one of the Cabilly patents issued to Genentech. One of the central issues was whether a licensee retained the right to challenge a licensed patent, or whether this right was forfeited upon signing of the license agreement. The case related indirectly to past debate over whether the US should change to a first to file patent system - in 2011, President Obama signed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which shifted the United States to a first-inventor-to-file patent system.
A tax patent is a patent that discloses and claims a system or method for reducing or deferring taxes. Tax patents have been granted predominantly in the United States but can be granted in other countries as well. They are considered to be a form of business method patent. They are also called "tax planning patents", "tax strategy patents", and "tax shelter patents". In September 2011, President Barack Obama signed legislation passed by the U.S. Congress that effectively prohibits the granting of tax patents in general.
John Wallis "Jack" Rowe is an American businessman and academic physician, who served as Chairman and CEO of Aetna Inc., a large health insurance company based in Connecticut, titles he retired from in February 2006.
A grantor-retained annuity trust, is a financial instrument commonly used in the United States to make large financial gifts to family members without paying a U.S. gift tax.
The estate tax in the United States is a tax on the transfer of the estate of a deceased person. The tax applies to property that is transferred via a will or according to state laws of intestacy. Other transfers that are subject to the tax can include those made through an intestate estate or trust, or the payment of certain life insurance benefits or financial account sums to beneficiaries. The estate tax is one part of the Unified Gift and Estate Tax system in the United States. The other part of the system, the gift tax, applies to transfers of property during a person's life.
Walton v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. 589 (2000), a decision of the United States Tax Court in favor of taxpayer Audrey J. Walton, "ruled that a grantor's right to receive a fixed amount for a term of years, if that right is a qualified interest within the meaning of Section 2702(b), is valued for gift tax purposes under Section 7520, without regard to the life expectancy of the transferor." More simply, a grantor's estate's contingent interest in a grantor-created annuity upon the grantor's death does not constitute a gift to anyone; but rather, is a retained interest of the grantor.
The Institute of Business and Finance (IBF) is a financial training institute providing online financial and educational materials, certification programs and support to the financial community and general public.
The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on September 16, 2011. The law represents the most significant legislative change to the U.S. patent system since the Patent Act of 1952 and closely resembles previously proposed legislation in the Senate in its previous session.
References
- ↑ Norris Floyd, "Patent Law is Getting Tax Crazy", International Herald Tribune, October 19, 2006
- ↑ Nowotarski, Mark, "Tax Strategies?", Insurance IP Bulletin, October 15, 2006
- ↑ Herman, Tom, "Patents on Tax-Related Ideas Stir Worry", Wall Street Journal , March 14, 2007
- ↑ Gruner, Richard, "Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures of the House Committee on Ways and Means" July 13, 2006
- ↑ "Tax-Strategy Patents and the Tax Gap", The Tax Advisor, AICPA, May 2007
- ↑ Gene Quinn, "Patent Office Orders Reexamination of Tax Related Patent" IPwatchdog, January 20, 2011
