News Letter 10 - February 1996

New Version 3.00 for Windows Available in June

We have completed a new version of Inter-Est. This version is written for Windows 95 and Windows NT. It can also be used with Windows 3.1x if you use Win32s which we will furnish.

We do not plan to ship a large manual with this version. We have developed an on-line manual which we hope will be easier to use and will not get lost or misplaced like the old manual. If the lack of a paper manual is a problem for many users, we will develop one.

This new Windows version has a number of major advantages.

You can open more than one case file at a time and you can have more than one window open to view different parts of a case output at one time.

An unlimited number of interest periods, state computations, gift tax credits, and transfers for the credit for tax on prior transfers.

Complex computations are more flexible than before.

Inter-Est can insert extra interest periods for you where there is a restricted interest computation.

Other new features such as computing interest on foreign countries as well as interest on federal and state.

Has printing font control and print preview.

Standard Windows style setup program and a standard Windows 95 style uninstall program.

Rev. Proc. 95-17 Changes Interest Computations

We have all had problems with the old method of interest computation used in Rev. Proc. 83-7. This method was implemented in Inter-Est by the furnished interest table FEDERAL2.IT2 or FEDERAL2.IT3. The new Rev. Proc. asks that for computations after 1994 that use the method implemented in the furnished interest tables FEDERAL.IT2 or FEDERAL.IT3.

New copies of Inter-Est are now shipped with the default federal interest table set to FEDERAL instead of FEDERAL2. You should change your default federal interest table on your copy of Inter-Est from FEDERAL2 to FEDERAL.

Federal Interest Rate Change

Remember to keep your interest tables current. The federal rate on deficiencies increased from 9% to 10% starting April 1, 1995 and then went back down to 9% as of July 1, 1995. Change your interest tables to reflect these changes.

The federal interest rates for refunds were one percent below the rates on deficiencies.

These rates remain the same for the first quarter of 1996.

Continued Support for Version 2.00 for Dos

The current release of Inter-Est 2.00 is Release 36.

We are still shipping Inter-Est 2.00 with both the standard version and the protected mode version of Inter-Est .

We realize that many of you will not have a version of Windows available on your computers for several years and we intend to continue to provide support for Version 2.00 for a while. How long we can provide support for both Version 2.00 and Version 3.00 will depend on demand and whether there are any changes to the law that will require a major amount of work to keep it current.

No major changes were made to Inter-Est during 1995, but a number of small changes were made. The following is a list of most of the changes:

An error in the application of the Nebraska exemption has been corrected.

An error in the tax table for Lousiana Class C Beneficiaries was corrected.

The way the All But fraction was computed in the COMPLEX2 option was changed slightly.

The amount of interest that was interest free was understated. We have made an adjustment to minimize the problem.

Corrected the marital deduction computation where date of death was before 1982. Input for amount of community property was not available.

Computation of Credit for Prior Transfers corrected for Rev. Rul. 76-311 for dates of death before 1982.

Change made to foreign death tax credit computation when computing the §2044 right of reimbursement.

Suspense account routine for non-6166 interest.

Change made to Massachusetts tax computation where decedent was a non-resident and there was intangible property.

Changed way the deduction for federal estate tax was computed in Maryland where there was out-of-state property.

Error found in allocation of interest payments for §6166 interest periods when the ‘e’ option was used.

Adjusted Pennsylvania computation to allow for the change in the phase out of the tax on the surviving spouse.

Adjusted Connecticut computation to allow for phase out of the tax on Class A and Class B.

Changed computation of residue so that it is reduced automatically for formula marital deduction bequests.

Changed computation where SDTC was computed when the estate was nontaxable for federal purposes.

Maintenance and Support

If you are having trouble with a computation using Inter-Est, please call us. We provide support to all of our users.

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