Today, Congress passed a sweeping tax bill, as widely expected over the last few weeks. The bill passed solely along party lines, with no Democrats voting for the bill.  President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law, shortly.

The changes in the transfer tax laws made by this bill are as follows:

• The gift and estate tax exemption is doubled beginning January 1, 2018, from $5,000,000 per person to $10,000,000, indexed for inflation.  For 2018, this equals $11,200,000 for individuals and $22,400,000 for married couples. The increase applies to the generation-skipping transfer tax exemption, as well
• The foregoing increase of the gift, estate, and GST exemptions is set to expire in 2026, when the exemptions would revert to $5,000,000/$10,000,000 figures, adjusted for inflation.  This raises the question of whether, upon such expiration, there could be a so-called claw-back/penalty on any gifts made prior to 2026 which exceeded
  

The Department of the Treasury has withdrawn the controversial proposed regulations for Section 2704 of the Code.  Section 2704 limits valuation discounts in family-controlled entities for certain lapsing rights and restrictions.  The proposed Regulations would have expanded the scope of Section 2704 by adding a new classification of disregarded restrictions and by narrowing several longstanding exceptions.  Comments submitted after the regulations were proposed complained that the requirements were unclear and that the impact on state law was difficult to predict.  On October 2, 2017, the Department of the Treasury submitted a report recommending that the proposed 2704 Regulations be rescinded and today the proposed Regulations were officially withdrawn by notice published in the Federal Register (82 FR 48779).

On Wednesday afternoon the White House again proposed eliminating the so-called death tax as part of its tax reform plan, but the details remain sparse.  When pressed for specifics Director Cohn simply stated that with the implementation of the administration’s tax plan, the death tax would disappear.

The phrase “death tax” entered the popular lexicon by way of tax reformers wanting to summarize and caricature the several parts of the Federal transfer tax system.

What he wants to accomplish vs. what he needs to accomplish…

As the United States rings in a New Year, it also welcomes a new president. All eyes are trained on Washington in anticipation of what President-elect Donald Trump will tackle in his first 100 days in office. Trump’s initial success will depend on how well he defines his own agenda and how he navigates the difference in details between his goals and the policy priorities of Congressional Republicans. Trump will also need to divide his political capital between the things his administration wants to do versus what it needs to do in the New Year.

Click here to read the Alert by David C. Russell and Miguel Rodriquez.

While there is considerable uncertainty among wealth planners and tax professionals regarding how the incoming administration will impact the federal tax code, nearly everyone agrees that change is imminent. With that in mind, we have assembled this chart, which compares current tax rates with President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tax plan, and the House Republicans’ Blueprint plan (released in June, 2016).  Click here.

Both presidential candidates have proposed changes to the estate tax regime.  Coming as a surprise to nobody, the proposals are quite different.

The 7520 rate for July 2016 has remained at 1.8%.

The July 2016 Applicable Federal Interest Rates can be found here.

The Department of the Treasury has released the Treasury Green Book  for Fiscal Year 2017, which provides explanations of the President’s budget proposals.  One such proposal (remember…these are just proposals, not actual changes in the law) that may affect your estate planning, if passed, is found on page 252 of the Green Book and is re-printed here for your convenience:

CONSOLIDATE CONTRIBUTION LIMITATIONS FOR CHARITABLE DEDUCTIONS AND EXTEND THE CARRYFORWARD PERIOD FOR EXCESS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION DEDUCTION AMOUNTS

Current Law

Current law limits the amount of charitable contribution deductions a donor may claim to a share of the donor’s contribution base (the taxpayer’s AGI computed without regard to any net operating loss carryback for the taxable year). An individual taxpayer may generally deduct up to 50 percent of his or her contribution base for contributions of cash to public charities, and up to 30 percent for cash contributions to

The Department of the Treasury has released the Treasury Green Book  for Fiscal Year 2017, which provides explanations of the President’s budget proposals.  One such proposal (remember…these are just proposals, not actual changes in the law) that may affect your estate planning, if passed, is found on page 240 of the Green Book and is re-printed here for your convenience:

REFORM EXCISE TAX BASED ON INVESTMENT INCOME OF PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS

Current Law

Private foundations that are exempt from Federal income tax generally are subject to a two percent excise tax on their net investment income. The excise tax rate is reduced to one percent in any year in which the foundation’s distributions for charitable purposes exceed the average level of the foundation’s charitable distributions over the five preceding taxable years (with certain adjustments). Private foundations that are not exempt from Federal income tax, including certain charitable trusts, must

The Department of the Treasury has released the Treasury Green Book  for Fiscal Year 2017, which provides explanations of the President’s budget proposals.  One such proposal (remember…these are just proposals, not actual changes in the law) that may affect your estate planning, if passed, is found on page 164 of the Green Book and is re-printed here for your convenience:

REQUIRE NON-SPOUSE BENEFICIARIES OF DECEASED IRA OWNERS AND RETIREMENT PLAN PARTICIPANTS TO TAKE INHERITED DISTRIBUTIONS OVER NO MORE THAN FIVE YEARS

Current Law

Minimum distribution rules apply to employer sponsored tax-favored retirement plans and to IRAs. In general, under these rules, distributions must begin no later than the required beginning date and a minimum amount must be distributed each year. For traditional IRAs, the required beginning date is April 1 following the calendar year in which the IRA owner attains age 70½. For employer-sponsored tax-favored retirement plans, the