As a philosophicalproverbprevailingin westerncountries goes, there are onlytwomattersin the worldthat are unavoidable, one is death, and the other is tax.
If, as is common, one partner left all assets to the other, then this tax-free transfer in effect cost the couple one of their two estate-tax exemptions.
While the cuts in 2013 will be two-thirds comprised of tax increases and one-third from spending cuts, the government said that from 2014 it would be divided equally.
That would interfere with New York City's special local sales taxes on beauty salons and saunas, its special exemption for interior decorators, and its two special tax rates on parking--one in Manhattan and the other for the outer boroughs.