The uncertainty of the last two years was put to rest on January 2, 2013 when President Obama signed into law the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012” (ATRA). The new law saved us from the “Fiscal Cliff” and forestalled significant tax increases for most taxpayers and across-the-board budget cuts. The impact of ATRA is far-reaching and affects all taxpayers (individuals, businesses, estates and trusts) and types of tax (income, capital gains, alternative minimum tax, business, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax). In a series of Alerts, we will explore the full extent of ATRA. This Alert provides a brief summary of ATRA’s impact on the gift, estate and generationskipping transfer tax (GST).

ATRA makes “permanent” the Bush-era tax provisions with minor modifications. The new tax brackets, rates, exemptions and patches do not sunset and will not change unless Congress enacts new legislation that expressly makes a change.

Please read full alert below for more information.