Masonry Magazine June 1999 Page. 28
Equipment Rental
Continued from previous page
"I knew I could rent it locally."
"We have a national account program designed specifically for contractors with ongoing projects across state lines," said Farley of NationsRent. "By providing standardized pricing and, in some cases, one salesperson, we assure customers that they can get the equipment in the right place at the right time. Contractors know they will get the highest quality and service level, regardless of the store location."
For Umphress, equipment rental enables him to satisfy the sometimes pressing demands of the contractors who hire him.
"Quite often the contractor will just say, 'I need you now.' When you've already got a heavy workload, it helps to know you can get the equipment to the job site without a lot of hassle."
Tom Linafelt is a Project Manager with Blades & Associates, an Overland Park, Kan, communications firm. He previously served as a writer for The Kansas City Business Journal, The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Estate Planning
Continued from page 15
factors to be considered. An individual, for example, is generally considered to be materially participating in the business if he or she personally manages the business fully, regardless of the number of hours actually worked, as long as any necessary functions are performed.
An additional estate tax will be imposed if the material participation requirements are not met for the required 10-year period following the decedent's death or if the qualified heir disposes of any portion of the interest. Naturally, a transfer to another member of the qualified heir's family also meets these requirements. The new rules simply state that the executor of a masonry contractor's estate must make the election to take advantage of the small business exclusion. Other than that, the rules do not provide a great deal of information about making the election.
Each person with an interest in the property are required to agree to pay their fair share of any additional estate tax that becomes due if the property is sold or no longer qualifies during the recapture period. This agreement must bind all persons having an interest in the property, whether or not qualified heirs. However, the U.S. Tax Court has, in the past, ruled that regulations requiring signatures by persons who were tenants in common but not heirs are invalid.
Since 1995, when then-Senator Bob Dole introduced the first measure covering estate tax relief for family-owned businesses, there has been a significant movement in Congress for the enactment of such a measure. This interest makes it difficult for many experts to understand why the tax law ties the family-owned business exclusion to the unified credit amount in what appears to be an adverse relationship.
As matters now stand, the impact of the exclusion will be at its greatest in 1998 and diminish significantly in 2006 and thereafter. The relationship between the two provisions will create difficulties for those masonry contractor who have, for example, one child in the business and one or more who are not. Perhaps, estate or succession planning might not be a bad idea after all.
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