Estate Planning and the The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 2017 Tax Reform by Kevin Staker

Estate Planning and 2017 Tax Reform

The Republicans in Congress have introduced the The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1.  The is the 2017 attempt at tax reform by the Republicans in Congress.

The changes proposed include the following:

• The exemptions from the Estate Tax and the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax are doubled from $5 million (as of 2011) to $10 million, which is indexed for inflation. This provision would apply to tax years beginning in 2018.  Hence, with inflation the exemptions for 2018 will be $11.2 million.
• Beginning in 2024, the estate and generation-skipping taxes are repealed.
• The step up in income tax basis is maintained.
• The gift tax is lowered to a top rate of 35 percent and retains a basic exclusion amount of $5.6 million for 2018, again indexed for inflation.
• The annual exclusion of $14,000 increases to $15,000 in 2018 and is also indexed for inflation.

The stated reasons are:

• The estate and generation-skipping taxes impose additional levels on tax on income and
assets that have generally already been subject tax. By repealing the estate and
generation-skipping taxes, family businesses that would pass from one generation to the
next would no longer be subject to double or even triple taxation.
• By repealing the estate and generation-skipping taxes, a small business would no longer
be penalized for growing to the point of being taxed upon the death of its owner, thus
incentivizing the owner to continue to invest in more capital and hire more employees.

Current law provides property in an estate is generally subject to a top tax rate of 40
percent before it passes to the estate’s beneficiaries. When property is transferred during the life of a donor, it is subject to a top gift tax rate of 40 percent, with the first $14,000 being excluded from the gift tax on a per-donee, annual basis. Additionally, property that is transferred beyond one generation, whether by bequest or by gift, is subject to an additional generation-skipping tax
Transfers between spouses are excluded from these taxes, and when an individual dies
without his or her assets exhausting the basic exclusion amount, any unused basic exclusion amount passes to his or her surviving spouse, with a top basic exclusion amount of $10.98 million for 2017. When a beneficiary receives property from an estate, the beneficiary generally takes a basis in that property equal to its fair-market value at the time the decedent dies, which is known as taking a step-up in basis. However, when a donee receives a gift from a living donor, that donee generally takes the donor’s basis in that property, which is known as taking a carryover basis.

Please note: for the Act to pass, only two Republican senators can oppose it.  Otherwise, the Act will be defeated just as was Obamacare repeal.

By Kevin Staker