If there was one part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) that estate planners were especially pleased to see, it was the increase in the basic exclusion amount from $5.49 million, in 2017, to $11.18 million for gifts made, and decedents dying, in 2018.[i] However, many estate planners failed to appreciate the

The owners of a closely-held business confront several issues upon the death of any one of them:

  • How will the decedent’s shares be valued?
  • How will the decedent’s estate pay the resulting estate tax?
  • To whom will the decedent’s shares be transferred?
  • How will the acquiring party pay for such shares?

In most cases, the

The Goals

The owners of interests in closely-held businesses have long sought out ways by which they can remove the future appreciation of such interests from their gross estates for estate tax purposes, but without incurring gifts taxes and income taxes.

One popular method to achieve these goals has been the sale of the closely-held

Oops

During the course of my career, I have sometimes gone months, if not years, without encountering a particular tax issue. I am aware of the issue and I am familiar with the relevant authorities, but it was not a concern for the clients whom I was then representing. Then, all of a sudden, the

Planning for the Surtax

The best time to plan for any tax event is well before it occurs, and this also applies to the surtax.  The trustee of a trust will almost always want the business income of the trust to be characterized as active income. The surtax may be addressed, at least partially, in

Material Participation by S Corp. Trusts

Since the enactment of the “material participation” test, as part of the passive activity loss (“PAL”) rules, in 1986, the IRS has issued very little guidance on how the test applies to trusts. Neither the Code nor the Regulations are helpful.

When the IRS issued proposed regulations for the