Calculating efficiency over a period of time can identify opportunities to reorganize staffing, or add or remove employees based on the company's volume of business, and an individual employee's long-term productivity can factor into merit increases and bonuses.
While trusts avoid probate, they don't avoid taxes. A transfer from a revocable trust will be taxed the same way as a transfer made through a will. Someone who inherits money from a revocable trust receives it tax-free, but the estate might have to pay estate tax on everything that it contains before distributing it.
In the case of inheritance taxes, spouses, children, or siblings often have different exemptions, which we list in detail in table 35 in the 2015 edition of our annual handbook, Facts & Figures. Currently, fifteen states and the District of Columbia have an estate tax, and six states have an inheritance tax. Maryland and New Jersey have both. The state with the highest maximum estate tax rate is Washington (20 percent), followed by eleven states which have a maximum rate of 16 percent. Hawaii and Delaware have the highest exemption threshold at $5,430,000 (matching the federal exemption). New Jersey has the lowest, only exempting estates up to $675,000.