Eagle Home Appraisal Grand Rapids
IRS step-up appraisals in Grand Rapids
When an heir sells an inherited house, the tax depends on what it was worth when it passed to them.
Call with the address and the date of passing. We will say what we can value and what your tax adviser will want in the report.
The number your tax adviser needs is not on the property tax bill.
An heir’s basis in an inherited home is generally tied to its fair market value on the date of passing, with exceptions (26 U.S.C. 1014). Michigan’s tax bill uses a different figure, the taxable value, which is a property-tax label and not a market value. Your adviser tells you which applies. We value the house on the date they name.
Taxable value is not market value
Michigan distinguishes taxable, assessed and state equalized value (Michigan Tax Tribunal glossary). A Grand Rapids tax entry is useful to identify the property and its history. It is not the value for the date you inherited it, and a transfer can reset it (MCL 211.27a).
Back to a date
An executor who files a federal return can sometimes elect an alternate date six months later, but only when it lowers both the estate value and the tax owed (26 U.S.C. 2032). That choice belongs to your adviser. We can value either date.
Your attorney or tax adviser decides which of these applies to you. An appraisal reports a value; it does not reach a legal or tax conclusion.
The house as it stood
The home may have been repainted, cleaned out or repaired since the date you need. We ask for dated photos, repair bills and any listing from around then, and we use sales from that season, not this one.
What to bring
The address, the date, your adviser’s name if you want us to speak with them, and records of work done before or after the date. A copy of the deed or legal description helps if more than one parcel is involved.
Eagle Home Appraisal Grand Rapids