Taking the Sting Out of Death Taxes with Dylan Metzner, Jones & Keller
Bill on Bankruptcy: Fee Agreement Puts Law Firm In Trustee's Sights
The TCJA doubled the lifetime exclusion and GST tax exemption. This exclusion amount, adjusted for inflation, is now $13.61 million and is expected to be approximately $13.99 million in 2025. However, in 2026, the amount will...more
Earlier this week the White House released its Fiscal Year 2025 Budget. Of course, the federal government has not yet adopted a budget for the Fiscal Year 2024 even as we approach that year’s halfway mark. But I digress. The...more
This is The End- I have dreaded the year end for as long as I can remember. As a teenager and then as a young adult I associated the final quarter of the year, and especially the period beginning on Thanksgiving and...more
For a business owner considering the sale of their business, there are two competing goals: maximizing the proceeds from the sale and minimizing the estate and gift taxes that will be due on the owner’s enhanced estate....more
From time to time, we provide updates in the estate planning area. While the November 2022 federal elections resulted in a divided Congress that dampens the likelihood of major federal tax legislation, we thought this would...more
April Interest Rates for GRATS, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split-Interest Charitable Trusts - The April Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and...more
The April Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 5.0%. The April applicable federal rate (“AFR”) for use with a sale to a defective grantor trust or intra-family loan...more
By most accounts, 2022 has been a tumultuous year from a planning perspective: the uncertainty of the midterm elections, stock market volatility, rising interest rates and the highest level of inflation in recent history have...more
Many estate planning strategies involve leveraging low interest rates in order to transfer the appreciation of an asset to beneficiaries free from transfer taxes. Generally, these techniques enable senior family members to...more
“Déjà vu All Over Again”- The White House last week released the President’s Budget for the Fiscal Year 2023. The Budget is ambitious, but its “investments,” we are told, “are more than paid for with tax reforms focused on...more
Tax the Rich? The President’s plan for a tax regime that would ensure the rich pay their “fair share” of the cost of implementing his programs has come one step closer to being realized . . . maybe . . . well, sort of ....more
You have probably heard that the House Ways and Means Committee released proposals for increasing gift and estate taxes in order support legislation being advanced by the Democratic majority in Congress. ...more
With Democratic control of the White House and Congress, there has been much speculation on what President Biden’s tax proposal will look like, as well as the likelihood that President Biden’s tax plan will be enacted into...more
On April 28, 2021, in an address to a Joint Session of Congress and a Fact Sheet published by the White House, President Biden introduced the “American Families Plan,” the President’s plan for spending and a series of tax...more
On January 5, 2021, Georgia Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock defeated GOP incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in their Senate runoff elections, giving the Democrats 50 seats in the Senate. Vice President Kamala...more
One traditional estate planning technique that has become increasingly popular in recent months is the Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT). Simply stated, a GRAT is an irrevocable trust where the grantor contributes...more
At the present time, certain tax and economic conditions have converged that provide a uniquely favorable environment for some estate planning opportunities...more
Interest rates that are used for loans to family members, loans to trusts and to value gifts to certain trusts have been further reduced as a result of market conditions driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. These historically low...more
With IRS-prescribed interest rates at historic lows and much like Intra-Family Loans described in a previous blog, a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) presents an excellent opportunity to transfer wealth to lower...more
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...more
Interest rates remain at record lows, and while many experts believe they’ll begin to rise soon, it’s likely they’ll rise slowly. So it’s an ideal time to implement estate planning strategies that are most effective in a...more
2016 Estate, Gift and GST Tax Update - What This Means for Your Current Will, Revocable Trust and Estate Plan - As we previously reported, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (the "Act") made the following...more
Congress has averted the so-called fiscal cliff by passing the "American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012" (the "Act") on January 1, 2013, which President Obama signed into law the following day. The good news is we finally have...more