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When an heir sells property inherited from a decedent, how is the holding period classified for capital gains?

By operation of the basis and holding-period rules, inherited property is deemed to have been held for more than one year, so any gain or loss is long-term even if the heir sells within days of receiving it. The heir's actual holding period is irrelevant.

Inherited property is long-term only if the heir's holding period plus the decedent's years exceeds one year.

This describes a carryover or tacking concept that applies to gifts, not inheritances. Inherited property does not require tacking because long-term treatment is automatic by statute.

On Schedule A, what threshold must unreimbursed medical and dental expenses exceed before any part becomes deductible?

They are deductible only to the extent they exceed a floor of 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. The base for the floor is AGI, not taxable income, and only the excess over that floor is allowed.

Medical expenses are deductible only above 10 percent of adjusted gross income.

A 10 percent floor applied in some earlier years, but the medical floor is 7.5 percent of AGI for 2024, so the 10 percent figure overstates the threshold.

What two conditions must both be met before the Net Investment Income Tax applies to a taxpayer?

The 3.8 per cent tax applies only when both coincide: the taxpayer has net investment income AND modified adjusted gross income exceeds the threshold for the filing status. Crossing the MAGI threshold alone is not enough if there is no investment income base to tax, and investment income alone is not enough if MAGI stays below the threshold.

Self-employment earnings from an active business you materially participate in are investment-type returns on your business capital, so they count as net investment income.

Income from an active trade or business in which the taxpayer materially participates is not net investment income. Such self-employment earnings are subject to self-employment tax, not the Net Investment Income Tax, so they form no NIIT base.

In the year one spouse dies and the survivor has not remarried, what filing status options are open to the surviving spouse?

The survivor is considered married for the whole year of death, so a joint return is permitted as long as there is no remarriage before year end. Qualifying surviving spouse status does not begin until the following two years and depends on having a dependent child.

A widower whose spouse died during the tax year should file as qualifying surviving spouse for that year.

Qualifying surviving spouse applies only to the two years AFTER the year of death and requires a dependent child. It is unavailable for the year of death itself, and a taxpayer with no dependants cannot use it at all.