Death and taxes are two certainties that we can plan for in life. The IRS is still able to tax us in death using estate tax rules as legislated by congress. For this paper, you will be required to respond to the subsequent scenario:

A wealthy couple has hired you to advise them on protecting their estate from taxes upon death. They own a farm and various businesses that they would like to pass on to their three (3) children.

Using Internet or Strayer Library, research the IRS's current level of interest and audits conducted related to estate taxes and proposed changes to legislation related to estate taxes.

Prepare a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:

1. Based on your research related to the present level of interest of the IRS related to estate taxes, assess how this information may factor into your advice and level of aggressiveness with tax minimization connected to estate taxes and planning for your clients. Give support for your position.

2. Based on your review of the current or recent legislative proposals related to estate taxes, determine the proposal you believe to be most viable. Show how such a change may be implemented into the tax law. Give support for your rationale.

3. Research the impact of estate taxes on a taxpayer's ability to transfer wealth to their children and tax planning tools used to minimize estate taxes. Show the effectiveness of these tools.

4. Propose a strategy to your client to mitigate or remove estate taxes and transfer as much wealth as possible to their children within the present estate tax laws and given level of IRS interest in this area.

5. Calculate and discuss which estate tax provisions would most likely be abused by taxpayers and raise the potential risk of an IRS audit. Give support for your position.

6. Suppose that you are appointed by Congress to simplify the estate tax code related to estate taxes. Suggest changes that could be fair to both taxpayers and federal treasury, showing how such taxes would be implemented.