Questions about the Land Transfer Tax

Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:25:29 -0400
From: Michael D. Resnik
Subject: Questions about the Land Transfer Tax

questionmarksign.jpgThe following questions should be easy to answer but I have not been able to find the answers on line or in the newspaper articles I have read. I ask them as one who is inclined to favor the tax, though I expect that it will subject me to an additional tax burden.

I will be grateful for direct, factual and “neutral” answers to these questions.

Mike

1) If I give a piece of real property to my children while I am alive, will the transfer be subject to the tax?

2) If I bequeath a piece of real property to someone, will that transfer be subject to the tax when my will is executed?

3) If I arrange to have timber cut (harvested) and marketed with the logger returning to me a share of the proceeds (but I do not use a timber deed), will that transfer be subject to the tax? (Substitute other crops for timber crops to generate a host of similar questions.)

4) Where can one read the full text of the regulation we are being asked to approve? Will it be a version of a statewide regulation or will it be tailored to Chatham County?