Estate Taxes

WASHINGTON -- With the first of millions of American baby boomers hitting the half-century mark in 1996, a little-publicized tax-cutting tool for homeowners is poised to hit the big time.Welcome to the world of what lawyers and accountants call the "Q-Pert" -- shorthand for its formal tax code designation, "Qualified Personal Residence Trust." Though just as useful to -- homeowners who are now in or nearing their retirement years, QPRTs are expected to turn into one of the baby-boom generation's most popular techniques for minimizing federal estate taxes on real estate assets.

As your prepare your 1991 income tax returns, be careful how you treat that condo at Ocean City or Deep Creek Lake. Here are some tips for preparing tax returns on rental property.Losses generated from rental property are normally deductible, though they are limited by various phaseout and carry-over provisions. However, losses derived from renting a vacation home are subject to additional restrictions.A vacation home is rental property that has been used by the taxpayer for personal purposes for more than 14 days during the tax year or more than 10 percent of the number of days the home is rented at a fair rental value, whichever is greater.

It's tax time once again, and questions abound about mortgage interest expense deductions for home mortgages and real estate taxes. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions. Question. My wife and I bought a building lot and plan to build a home on it in a year or two. We have a mortgage loan on the lot and pay loan interest and real estate taxes. Can we deduct the mortgage interest or real estate taxes? Answer. You can't deduct the interest as home mortgage interest because there is no home under construction.

We are in the process of buying a new home. We have informed the lender, Chase Manhattan Bank, that we would like to pay our real estates taxes directly to Harford County and homeowners insurance directly to the insurance company. Chase has informed us that to comply with our request, they will charge us 1/4 of one point of the amount mortgaged. Our down payment will be greater than 30 percent, which avoids the requirements for PMI insurance and an escrow account for real estate taxes. The question is, can Chase legally collect a charge from us for not escrowing our real estate taxes and homeowners insurance in the state of Maryland?

Dear Mr. Azrael: My husband and I purchased a home in November 2002 in Baltimore City. The previous owners were given a real property tax exemption because one of them was blind. We were not informed of this exemption at settlement and received a bill from Baltimore City for additional real estate taxes. The city tax office informed me that the exemption was listed on the lien sheet and that someone should have looked into the exemption. Do my husband and I have any legal recourse? We paid for title insurance.

Washington. -- President Clinton propagandizes against the rich, depriving them of legitimacy, and the Democrats are willing to violate the law to punish them. The Democrats have singled out ''the rich'' and the dead for unconstitutional retroactive taxation and are legislating this prohibited act.Clinton's tax increase, misleadingly termed a deficit-reduction plan, is a blatant assault on Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, which explicitly forbids retroactive law. Moreover, it is contemptuous of all legal precedent.

IF THOMAS W. REDMOND SR. wants to restore his political credibility, the Anne Arundel County councilman from Pasadena should pay his delinquent county real estate taxes quickly.Owing nearly $12,000 in real estate taxes on his business property is a sure-fire way to undermine his standing with voters as well as his colleagues on the council.Politically, few things could be worse for an elected official than to be delinquent on his taxes. Taxes are supposed to be a shared burden. At present, county residents who are current with their taxes, and who pay Mr. Redmond's $26,000 council salary, are shouldering the costs of running the county government -- without any help from him.Mr.

Dear Mr. Azrael:I would like to know if there is any way that I can take over and manage my own escrow account. (My lender) recently did not pay my town taxes, and I have gone through a lot of hassle trying to rectify this problem. I would like to know what the rights of a consumer are when the mortgage company is not handling an escrow account properly.Barbara E. SnyderPerryvilleDear Ms. Snyder:Many mortgage lenders require the borrower to maintain an escrow account to pay real estate taxes and property insurance.

The 15-year real estate tax abatement for the Superblock in West Baltimore raises important policy issues that need to be addressed. Specifically, should the city — and in certain cases, the state — grant economic incentives for real estate developments that 1) create competitive disadvantages for existing property owners and 2) reduce the city's property tax revenues from large-scale commercial developments? From my private-sector perspective, the answer to the question is simple: Granting tax abatements that disadvantage existing taxpaying properties is wrong and will lead to an overall loss of tax revenues for the city.

Manchester tables trash collection billDuring its regular meeting Tuesday, the Manchester Town Council tabled discussion of a proposal that would require owners of multifamily dwellings to pay for their trash collection.Town Manager Terry Short said the town now pays for the service. He said the cost is about $84 a year per unit, for collection and disposal.The money to pay for the service comes from town real estate taxes.Mr. Short said about 83 percent of the real estate tax money is budgeted for trash collection, although not that much will be spent because the town has negotiated a better contract and dropped service for business trash bins.