February 2, 2021 Since 2012, the lifetime exemption amount that every individual can transfer free of estate tax during their life or at death has increased, not only through congressional action but from inflation adjustments coming every January like a New Year’s gift. For the 2021 tax year, the number now stands at $11.7 million … Continued
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” claimed Benjamin Franklin. But at least with the latter matter, there can be different degrees of severity. Indeed, in some respects, we are generally living in a relatively benign tax environment these days but given the increasingly populist and progressive sentiments … Continued
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 generously increased the Lifetime Exemption for gifts from what was a $5 million base amount per person to $10 million for 2018, along with inflation-adjusted increases through 2025. But this attractive provision is due to sunset in 2026 – that is, it is set to expire on … Continued
One of the biggest changes occurred here, with the taxable estate exemption doubled. The number of estates predicted to owe tax in 2018 versus 2017 may be cut in half thanks to the change in the estate and gift tax exemption amount. The new limit, which applies to gifts made during life or assets left … Continued
The new tax law has brought about significant financial changes and opportunities for individuals and families, not least of which is the substantial increase in the estate and gift tax Lifetime Exemption amount. This amount has essentially doubled overnight, to a newly available $11.2 million per person in 2018 ($22.4 million for married couples). As … Continued
The “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017” (TCJA) was signed into law on December 22nd and, while it will take some time to fully absorb its many impactful provisions, some key areas for planning clearly exist in this New Year. Probably the most significant change for many private taxpayers is the substantial expansion of … Continued
In today’s world of innovation, where one idea could turn a young entrepreneur into an overnight million(billion)aire, it is becoming increasingly common for a financially successful individual to accumulate far more wealth than their living parents ever could. It is in this group of high net worth investors where a unique wealth transfer strategy may … Continued
In the alphabet soup of estate planning jargon, the acronym QPRT is one of the more familiar — if not fully understood — terms and it represents a popular and rather common technique for potentially passing significant wealth amongst generations using family homes with little or no gift or estate tax consequence. The letters stand … Continued
Typically, a regular IRA is not the most efficient asset to use for inter-generational transfers of wealth. If the IRA and estate are large enough, both estate and income taxes will apply. As a result, heirs can end up with only about 20% of the actual value of an IRA. However, if estate taxes are … Continued