In the months preceding the general election in 2024, the owners of many closely held businesses who had not yet given much thought to the disposition of their future estates, including their businesses, decided they should...more
8/1/2025
/ Business Succession ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Estate Planning ,
Estate Tax ,
Family Businesses ,
Generation-Skipping Transfer ,
Gift Tax ,
New Legislation ,
One Big Beautiful Bill Act ,
Succession Planning ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Reform ,
Transfer Taxes ,
Trusts
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (the “Act”) was signed into law last week, on July 4. As promised by the White House, the Act extends – i.e., purports to make “permanent” – many of the otherwise expiring provisions that were...more
7/14/2025
/ Business Taxes ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Estate Tax ,
Federal Taxes ,
Gift Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
One Big Beautiful Bill Act ,
Partnerships ,
Qualified Small Business Stock ,
Small Business ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Legislation ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Reform ,
Tax Returns
Every conveyance of property or of an interest in property from one person to another is prompted, or at least influenced, by economic considerations. The parties to the transaction may swap properties, or one party may...more
5/29/2025
/ Estate Tax ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantor Trusts ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Partnerships ,
Property Tax ,
Property Transaction Taxes ,
S-Corporation ,
Shareholders ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Taxable Income ,
Taxation ,
Termination ,
Transfer Taxes ,
Trust Distributions ,
Trusts
A parent will sometimes transfer money to a child to enable the child to make an investment that the child could not otherwise make on their own. For example, the child may have identified an attractive business opportunity...more
4/1/2025
/ Borrowers ,
Estate Tax ,
Fair Market Value ,
Gift Tax ,
Interest Rates ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment ,
IRS ,
Loans ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Trusts
As we will see shortly, it is often “better to give than to receive,” though this statement begs the obvious question of whether it is better to do so during one’s lifetime or upon one’s death.
Many well-to-do individuals...more
10/11/2024
/ Clawbacks ,
DSUEA ,
Estate Planning ,
Estate Tax ,
Estate-Tax Exemption ,
Exclusions ,
Gift Tax ,
Gift-Tax Exemption ,
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) ,
Grantor Trusts ,
GST ,
Holding Periods ,
IRS ,
Portability ,
Sunset Provisions ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Exemptions
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
3/18/2024
/ Capital Gains ,
Estate Tax ,
Exclusions ,
Fair Market Value ,
Federal Budget ,
Fiscal Year ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) ,
Grantor Trusts ,
Grantors ,
GST ,
IRS ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Revocable Trusts ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deferral ,
Tax Increases ,
Tax Revenues ,
Transfer Taxes ,
Trusts ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Valuation
It is not uncommon, in the context of a business entity in which a family owns a controlling or substantial interest, for an adviser to encounter intersecting gift and income tax issues.
This week’s post will consider one...more
Many of us have encountered variations of the following scenario: a parent owns and operates a business; one or more of their children are employed in the business; as the children mature and become more experienced and...more
2/9/2024
/ Asset Purchase Agreements ,
Business Assets ,
Business Succession ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Family Businesses ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantors ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
S-Corporation ,
Shareholders ,
Stocks ,
Succession Planning ,
Tax Court
The Long-Term View-
Among its core functions, federal tax policy seeks to encourage those behaviors among businesses that, in the long run, will have a lasting positive effect upon the nation’s economy as a whole. ...more
1/26/2024
/ Federal Taxes ,
Gift Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Itemized Deductions ,
MACRS ,
Modification ,
Sunset Provisions ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Tax Legislation ,
Tax Rates
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
12/20/2023
/ Business Ownership ,
Capital Gains ,
Carried Interest ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Estate Tax ,
Federal Taxes ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) ,
Income Taxes ,
Investors ,
IRS ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Planning ,
Transfer Taxes ,
Trusts ,
U.S. House
It’s not enough for the founder of a closely held business to have successfully established the business. The business has to grow, not only to increase profits, but also to make it more competitive and to diversify its...more
11/6/2023
/ Bypass Trusts ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Disclaimers ,
Estate Planning ,
Estate Tax ,
Executors ,
Fair Market Value ,
Family Businesses ,
Gift Tax ,
Irrevocable Trusts ,
IRS ,
Marital Trusts ,
Personal Liability ,
QTIP Trusts ,
Surviving Spouse ,
Tax Liability ,
Taxation ,
Transfer Taxes ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
Estate Tax – It’s a Killer-
One of the reasons often given for eliminating the estate tax is the substantial economic burden it places upon the estate of a deceased business owner and upon the business itself. Specifically,...more
6/16/2023
/ Acceleration ,
Adjusted Gross Income ,
Business Assets ,
Business Ownership ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Deceased ,
Decedent Protection ,
Estate Tax ,
Fair Market Value ,
Gift Tax ,
Installment Agreements ,
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts ,
IRS ,
Life Insurance ,
Redemption Agreement ,
Stock Ownership ,
Stock Purchase Agreement ,
Tax Liability ,
Testamentary Transfers
Charitable Giving Update-
According to a recent report on charitable giving, the number of donors at every level of giving dropped during the first three quarters of 2022. The number of new donors was down by over 19...more
5/3/2023
/ Articles of Incorporation ,
Bonuses ,
Burden of Proof ,
Capital Gains ,
Change in Control ,
Charitable Donations ,
Due Diligence ,
Gift Tax ,
IRS ,
Letters of Intent ,
Private Equity ,
Purchase Agreement ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Selling a Business ,
Shareholder Distributions ,
Stock Purchase Agreement ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Returns
On March 20, 2023, Senators Warren, Sanders, Van Hollen, and Whitehouse addressed a letter to Treasury Secretary Yellen in which they urged Yellen “to use [her] existing authority to limit the ultra-wealthy’s abuse of trusts...more
4/11/2023
/ AFR ,
Estate Tax ,
Fair Market Value ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantor Trusts ,
Heirs ,
Irrevocable Trusts ,
IRS ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Tax-Free Transfers ,
Trusts ,
U.S. Treasury
The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 established the requirement that the President submit a budget to Congress for the upcoming fiscal year. Among other things, the proposed federal budget affords the President an...more
3/13/2023
/ C-Corporation ,
Capital Gains ,
Estate Tax ,
Federal Budget ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) ,
Grantor Trusts ,
IRS ,
Joe Biden ,
NIIT ,
S-Corporation ,
Tax Deferral ,
Tax Increases ,
Tax Rates
There have been some interesting developments of late with respect to the ownership of real property in parts of the English-speaking world. For example, Canada has imposed a temporary ban on the purchase of such property by...more
2/22/2023
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Beneficiaries ,
Canada ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Estate Tax ,
Estate-Tax Exemption ,
FinCEN ,
FIRPTA ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Ownership ,
Gift Tax ,
Investment Portfolios ,
IRS ,
Non-Citizens ,
Non-Resident Aliens ,
Qualified Domestic Trust (QDOT) ,
Residential Property Owners ,
Title Insurance
It is a fact that the phenomenon of human migration has been a major force in the history of the world.
Indeed, among the themes that have remained constant during my years of practice, there are two that may be...more
8/23/2022
/ Domicile ,
Estate Planning ,
Estate Tax ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Trusts ,
Gift Tax ,
Intangible Property ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Marital Assets ,
Non-Citizens ,
Non-Residents ,
Partnership Interests ,
Residency Status ,
Tangible Property ,
Tax Treaty ,
Transfer Taxes ,
Visas
“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
4/8/2022
/ Capital Gains ,
Capital Gains Tax ,
Estate Tax ,
Fair Market Value ,
Family Businesses ,
Federal Budget ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) ,
Grantor Trusts ,
Income Taxes ,
Joe Biden ,
Rule Against Perpetuities ,
Taxable Income ,
Transfer Taxes ,
Trusts ,
Wealth Tax
Counting the Days?-
We are 302 days away from the national mid-term elections, to be held November 8, 2022, yet the first full week of the new year has already highlighted some of the economic issues with which the...more
1/12/2022
/ Appraisal ,
Business Ownership ,
Business Valuations ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Estate Planning ,
Estate Tax ,
Fair Market Value ,
Federal Budget ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) ,
Grantor Trusts ,
Investment Banks ,
IRS ,
Letters of Intent ,
Mark-To-Market ,
Medicare ,
Net Investment Income ,
Qualified Small Business Stock ,
Stocks ,
Surtax ,
Target Company ,
Tax Increases ,
Wealth Tax
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
11/23/2021
/ Adjusted Gross Income ,
C-Corporation ,
Capital Gains ,
Capital Gains Tax ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Estate Tax ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) ,
Income Taxes ,
Infrastructure ,
Inter Vivos Gifts ,
IRS ,
Mark-To-Market ,
Net Investment Income ,
Social Security Taxes ,
Tax Code ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Returns ,
Transfer Taxes ,
Valuation ,
Wealth Tax
Same old in D.C.-
On Monday, November 15, the President will sign into law the approximately $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was finally passed by Congress when the House approved the Senate’s...more
11/15/2021
/ Beneficiaries ,
Business Assets ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Dynasty Trust ,
Fair Market Value ,
Gift Tax ,
Infrastructure ,
IRS ,
Joe Biden ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Net Investment Income ,
Partnerships ,
Revocable Trusts ,
Surcharges ,
Tax Advice ,
Tax Returns ,
Taxable Exchanges ,
Taxable Income ,
Transfer Taxes ,
Valuation
It was quite a week, wasn’t it?-
Manchin-
Senator Manchin continued to attract a lot of attention.
To the dismay of his fellow Democrats, the West Virginian – who also chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources...more
10/13/2021
/ Business Ownership ,
Business Taxes ,
Capital Gains ,
Carbon Taxes ,
Clean Energy ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Debt Ceiling ,
Estate Tax ,
Estate-Tax Exemption ,
Gift Tax ,
Gift-Tax Exemption ,
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) ,
Grantor Trusts ,
Irrevocable Trusts ,
IRS ,
Joe Biden ,
OECD ,
Pandora Papers ,
Private Equity ,
SALT ,
Tax Increases ,
Tax Rates ,
Valuation ,
Ways and Means Committee
Where Are We?
Have you seen the Triumvirate of late? No, not Julius, Pompey, and Crassus. I’m referring to more contemporary political figures, whose names and exploits are not likely to appear in volumes that will be...more
9/28/2021
/ Estate Tax ,
Fair Market Value ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) ,
Grantor Trusts ,
Green Book ,
Income Taxes ,
Joe Biden ,
Obama Administration ,
Tax Code ,
Tax Legislation ,
Tax Planning ,
Trust Income ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Ways and Means Committee
First Step-
Last Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved that portion of the 2022 budget legislation with which it was tasked by the Congressional Budget resolution of August 24. The text of the bill...more
9/21/2021
/ Adjusted Gross Income ,
Business Assets ,
Business Income ,
C-Corporation ,
Capital Gains ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Estate Tax ,
Gift Tax ,
Grantor Trusts ,
Investors ,
Joe Biden ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Liquidation ,
Qualified Small Business Stock ,
S-Corporation ,
Shareholders ,
Subsidiaries ,
Surtax ,
Tax Increases ,
Taxable Income ,
Valuation ,
Wealth Tax
Summertime in Washington-
On August 11, the Senate passed the $3.5 trillion budget resolution for the 2021-2022 fiscal year – S. Con. Res. 14, as amended – by a vote of 50 to 49, strictly along party lines, including...more
9/7/2021
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Congressional Budget Resolution ,
Earn-Outs ,
Escrow Accounts ,
Estate Tax ,
General-Business ,
Gift Tax ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Popular ,
SALT ,
Selling a Business ,
Tax Increases ,
Tax Rates ,
Transfer of Assets