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The Joy – and Tax Benefits – of Gifting

As we enter the “season of giving” and the end of yet another year, the thoughts of many tax advisers turn to . . . tax planning.(i) In keeping with the spirit of the season, an adviser may suggest that a client with a closely held business consider making a gift of equity in the business to the owner’s family or to a trust for their benefit.(ii)

Of course, annual exclusion gifts(iii) are standard fare and, over the course of several years, may result in the transfer of a not insignificant portion of the equity in a business.

However, the adviser may also recommend that the client consider making larger gifts, thereby utilizing a portion of their “unified” gift-and-estate tax exemption amount during their lifetime. Such a gift, the adviser will explain, may remove from the owner’s gross estate not only the current value of the transferred business interests, but also the future appreciation thereon.(iv)

The client and the adviser may then discuss the “size” of the gift and the valuation of the business interests to be gifted, including the application of discounts for lack of control and lack of marketability. At this point, the adviser may have to curb the client’s enthusiasm somewhat by reminding them that the IRS is still skeptical of certain valuation discounts, and that an adjustment in the valuation of a gifted business interest may result in a gift tax liability.

The key, the adviser will continue, is to remove as much value from the reach of the estate tax as reasonably possible, and without incurring a gift tax liability – by utilizing the client’s remaining exemption amount – while also leaving a portion of such exemption amount as a “cushion” in the event the IRS successfully challenges the client’s valuation.

“Ask and Ye Shall Receive”(v)

Enter the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”).(vi) Call it an early present for the 2018 gifting season.

One of the key features of the Act was the doubling of the federal estate and gift tax exemption for U.S. decedents dying, and for gifts made by U.S. individuals,(vii) after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026.

This was accomplished by increasing the basic exemption amount (“BEA”) from $5 million to $10 million. Because the exemption amount is indexed for inflation (beginning with 2012), this provision resulted in an exemption amount of $11.18 million for 2018, and this amount will be increased to $11.4 million in 2019.(viii)

Exemption Amount in a Unified System

You will recall that the exemption amount is available with respect to taxable transfers made by an individual taxpayer either during their life (by gift) or at their death – in other words, the gift tax and the estate tax share a common exemption amount.(x)

The gift tax is imposed upon the taxable gifts made by an individual taxpayer during the taxable year (the “current taxable year”). The gift tax for the current taxable year is determined by: (1) computing a “total tentative tax” on the combined amount of all taxable gifts made by the taxpayer for the current and all prior years using the common gift tax and estate tax rate table; (2) computing a tentative tax only on all prior-year gifts; (3) subtracting the tentative tax on prior-year gifts from the tentative tax computed for all years to arrive at the portion of the total tentative tax attributable to current-year gifts; and, finally, (4) subtracting the amount of the taxpayer’s unified credit (derived from the unused exemption amount) not consumed by prior-year gifts.

Thus, taxable gift transfers(xi) that do not exceed a taxpayer’s exemption amount are not subject to gift tax. However, any part of the taxpayer’s exemption amount that is used during their life to offset taxable gifts reduces the amount of exemption that remains available at their death to offset the value of their taxable estate.(xii)

From a mechanical perspective, this “unified” relationship between the two taxes is expressed as follows:

• the deceased taxpayer’s taxable estate is combined with the value of any taxable gifts made by the taxpayer during their life;
• the estate tax rate is then applied to determine a “tentative” estate tax;
• the portion of this tentative estate tax that is attributable to lifetime gifts made by the deceased taxpayer is then subtracted from the tentative estate tax to determine the “gross estate tax” – i.e., the amount of estate tax before considering available credits, the most important of which is the so-called “unified credit”; and
• credits are subtracted to determine the estate tax liability.

This method of computation is designed to ensure that a taxpayer only gets one run up through the rate brackets for all lifetime gifts and transfers at death.(xiii)

What Happens After 2025?(xvi)

However, given the temporary nature of the increased exemption amount provided by the Act, many advisers questioned whether the cumulative nature of the gift and estate tax computations, as described above, would result in inconsistent tax treatment, or even double taxation, of certain transfers.

To its credit,(xv) Congress foresaw some of these issues and directed the IRS to prescribe regulations regarding the computation of the estate tax that would address any differences between the exemption amounts in effect: (i) at the time of a taxpayer’s death and (ii) at the time of any gifts made by the taxpayer.

Pending the issuance of this guidance – and pending the confirmation of what many advisers believed was an expression of Congressional intent not to punish individuals who make gifts using the increased exemption amount – many taxpayers decided not to take immediate advantage of the greatly increased exemption amount, lest they suffer any of the consequences referred to above.

Proposed Regulations

In response to Congress’s directive, however, the IRS proposed regulations last week that should allay the concerns of most taxpayers,(xvi) which in turn should smooth the way to increased gifting and other transfers that involve an initial or partial gift.

In describing the proposed regulations, the IRS identified and analyzed several situations that could have created unintended problems for a taxpayer, though it concluded that the existing methodology for determining the taxpayer’s gift and estate tax liabilities provided adequate protection against such problems:

• Whether a taxpayer’s post-2017 increased exemption amount would be reduced by pre-2018 gifts on which gift tax was paid. If the taxpayer makes additional gifts during the post-2017 increased exemption period, would the gift tax computation apply the increased exemption to the pre-2018 gifts, thus reducing the exemption otherwise available to shelter gifts made during the post-2017 period, effectively allocating credit to a gift on which gift tax in fact was already paid, and denying the taxpayer the full benefit of the increased exemption amount for transfers made during the increased exemption period?

• Whether the increased exemption amount available during the increased exemption period would be reduced by pre-2018 gifts on which gift tax was paid. If the taxpayer died during the increased exemption period, would the estate tax computation apply the increased exemption to the pre-2018 gifts, thus reducing the exemption otherwise available against the estate tax during the increased exemption period and, in effect, allocating credit to a gift on which gift tax was paid?

• Whether the gift tax on a post-2025 transfer would be inflated by the theoretical gift tax on a gift made during the increased exemption period that was sheltered from gift tax when made. Would the gift tax determination on the post-2025 gift treat the gifts made during the increased exemption period as gifts that were not sheltered from gift tax given that the post-2025 gift tax determination is based on the exemption amount then in effect, rather than on the increased exemption amount, thereby increasing the gift on the later transfer and effectively subjecting the earlier gift to tax even though it was exempt from gift tax when made?

With respect to the first two situations described above, the IRS determined that the current methodology by which a taxpayer’s gift and estate tax liabilities are determined ensures that the increased exemption will not be reduced by a prior gift on which gift tax was paid. As to the third situation, the IRS concluded that the current methodology ensures that the tax on the current gift will not be improperly inflated.

New Regulations

However, there was one situation in which the IRS concluded that the methodology for computing the estate tax would, in effect, retroactively eliminate the benefit of the increased exemption that was available for gifts made during the increased exemption period.

Specifically, the IRS considered whether, for estate tax purposes, a gift made by a taxpayer during the increased exemption period, and that was sheltered from gift tax by the increased exemption available during such period, would inflate the taxpayer’s post-2025 estate tax liability.

The IRS determined that this result would follow if the estate tax computation failed to treat such gifts as sheltered from gift tax.

Under the current methodology, the estate tax computation treats the gifts made during the increased exemption period as taxable gifts not sheltered from gift tax by the increased exemption amount, given that the post-2025 estate tax computation is based on the exemption in effect at the decedent’s death rather than the exemption in effect on the date of the gifts.

For example, if a taxpayer made a gift of $11 million in 2018, (when the BEA is $10 million; a taxable gift of $1 million), then dies in 2026 with a taxable estate of $4 million (when the BEA is $5 million), the federal estate tax would be approximately $3,600,000: 40% estate tax on $9 million – specifically, the sum of the $4 million taxable estate plus $5 million of the 2018 gift that was sheltered from gift tax by the increased exemption. This, in effect, would impose estate tax on the portion of the 2018 gift that was sheltered from gift tax by the increased exemption allowable at that time.

Alternatively, what if the taxpayer dies in 2026 with no taxable estate? The taxpayer’s estate tax would be approximately $2 million, which is equal to a 40% tax on $5 million – the amount by which, after taking into account the $1 million portion of the 2018 gift on which gift tax was paid, the 2018 gift exceeded the BEA at death. This, in effect, would impose estate tax on the portion of the 2018 gift that was sheltered from the gift tax by the excess of the 2018 exemption over the 2026 exemption.

The IRS determined that this problem arises from the interplay between the differing exemption amounts that are taken into account in the computation of the estate tax.

Specifically, after first determining the tentative tax on the sum of a decedent’s taxable estate and their adjusted taxable gifts,(xvii)

i. the decedent’s estate must then determine the credit against gift taxes for all prior taxable gifts, using the exemption amount allowable on the dates of the gifts (the credit itself is determined using date of death tax rates);
ii. the gift tax payable is then subtracted from the tentative tax, the result being the net tentative estate tax; and
iii. the estate next determines a credit based on the exemption amount as in effect on the date of the decedent’s death, which is then applied to reduce the net tentative estate tax.

If this credit (based on the exemption amount at the date of death) is less than the credit allowable for the decedent’s taxable gifts (using the date of gift exemption amount), the effect is to increase the estate tax by the difference between the two credit amounts.

In this circumstance, the statutory requirements for computing the estate tax have the effect of imposing an estate tax on gifts made during the increased exemption period that were sheltered from gift tax by the increased exemption amount in effect when the gifts were made.

In order to address this unintended result, the proposed regulations would add a special computation rule in cases where (i) the portion of the credit as of the decedent’s date of death that is based on the exemption is less than (ii) the sum of the credits attributable to the exemption allowable in computing the gift tax payable. In that case, the portion of the credit against the net tentative estate tax that is attributable to the exemption amount would be based upon the greater of those two credit amounts.

Specifically, if the total amount allowable as a credit, to the extent based solely on the BEA, in computing the gift tax payable on the decedent’s post-1976 taxable gifts, exceeds the credit amount based solely on the BEA in effect at the date of death, the credit against the net tentative estate tax would be based on the larger BEA.

For example, if a decedent made cumulative taxable gifts of $9 million, all of which were sheltered from gift tax by a BEA of $10 million applicable on the dates of the gifts,(xviii) and if the decedent died after 2025 when the BEA was $5 million, the credit to be applied in computing the estate tax would be based upon the $9 million of exemption amount that was used to compute the gift tax payable.

Time to Act?

By addressing the unintended results presented in the situation described – a gift made the decedent during the increased exemption period, followed by the death of the decedent after the end of such period – the proposed regulations ensure that the decedent’s estate will not be inappropriately taxed with respect to the gift.

With this “certainty,” an individual business owner who has been thinking about gifting a substantial interest in their business may want to accelerate their gift planning. As an additional incentive, the owner need only look at the results of the mid-term elections, which do not bode well for the future of the increased exemption amount. In other words, it may behoove the owner to treat 2020 (rather than 2025) as the final year for which the increased exemption amount will be available, and to plan accordingly. Those owners who decide to take advantage of the increased exemption amount by making gifts should consider how they may best leverage it.

And as always, tax savings, estate planning, and gifting strategies have to be considered in light of what is best for the business and what the owner is comfortable giving up.

—————————————————————
(i) What? Did you really expect something else? Tax planning is not a seasonal exercise – it is something to be considered every day, similar to many other business decisions.
(ii) Of course, the interest to be gifted should be “disposable” in that the owner can comfortably afford to give up the interest. Even if that is the case, the owner may still want to consider the retention of certain “tax-favored” economic rights with respect to the interest so as to reduce the amount of the gift for tax purposes.
(iii) Usually into an irrevocable trust, and coupled with the granting of “Crummey powers” to the beneficiaries so as to support the gift as one of a “present interest” in property. A donor’s annual exclusion amount is set at $15,000 per donee for 2018 and $15,000 for 2019.
(iv) In other words, a dollar removed today will remove that dollar plus the appreciation on that dollar; a dollar at death shields only that dollar.
The removal of this value from the reach of the estate tax has to be weighed against the loss of the stepped-up basis that the beneficiaries of the decedent’s estate would otherwise enjoy if the gifted business interest were included in the decedent’s gross estate.
(v) Matthew 7:7-8. Actually, many folks asked for the repeal of the estate tax. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” The Rolling Stones.
(vi) P.L. 115-97.
(vii) For purposes of the estate tax, this includes a U.S. citizen or domiciliary. The distinction between a U.S. individual and non-resident-non-citizen is significant. In the absence of any estate and gift tax treaty between the U.S and the foreign individual’s country, the foreign individual is not granted any exclusion amount for purposes of determining their U.S. gift tax liability, and only a $60,000 exclusion amount for U.S. estate tax purposes.
(viii) https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-18-57.pdf
(ix) Only individual transferors are subject to the gift tax. Thus, in the case of a transfer from a business entity that is treated as a gift, one or more of the owners of the business entity will be treated as having made the gift.
(x) They also share a common tax rate table.
(xi) As distinguished, for example, from the annual exclusion gift – set at $15,000 per donee for 2018 and for 2019 – which is not treated as a taxable gift (it is not counted against the exemption amount).
(xii) An election is available under which the federal exemption amount that was not used by a decedent during their life or at their death may be used by the decedent’s surviving spouse (“portability”) during such spouse’s life or death.
(xiii) A similar approach is followed in determining the gift tax, which is imposed on an individual’s transfers by gift during each calendar year.
(xiv) As indicated above, the increased exemption amount is scheduled to sunset after 2025, at which point the lower, pre-TCJA basic exclusion amount is reinstated, as adjusted for inflation through 2025. Of course, a change in Washington after 2020 could accelerate a reduction in the exemption amount.
(xv) I bet you don’t hear that much these days.
(xvi) https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/11/23/2018-25538/estate-and-gift-taxes-difference-in-the-basic-exclusion-amount; the regulations are proposed to be effective on and after the date they are published as final regulations in the Federal Register.
(xvii) Defined as all taxable gifts made after 1976 other than those included in the gross estate.
(xviii) Post-TCJA and before 2026.

When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act[1] was introduced on November 2, 2017, perhaps the single most important issue on the minds of many closely held business owners was the future of the estate tax: was it going to be repealed as had been promised? A closely related question – and perhaps of equal significance to these owners’ tax advisers – was whether an owner’s assets would receive a so-called “stepped-up” basis in the hands of those persons to whom the assets passed upon the owner’s death?

When the smoke cleared (only seven weeks later), the estate tax remained in place, but its reach was seriously limited, at least temporarily. Moreover, the stepped-up basis rule continued to benefit the beneficiaries of a decedent’s estate.

To better understand the change wrought by the Act – and to appreciate what it left intact – we begin with an overview of the federal transfer taxes.

The Estate and Gift Tax

The Code imposes a gift tax on certain lifetime transfers, an estate tax on certain transfers at death, and a generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax when such transfers are made to a “skip person.”

Estate Tax

The Code imposes a tax on the transfer of the taxable estate of a decedent who is a citizen or resident of the U.S. The taxable estate is determined by deducting from the value of the decedent’s gross estate any deductions provided for in the Code. After applying tax rates to determine a tentative amount of estate tax, certain credits are subtracted to determine estate tax liability.

Estate Tax

A decedent’s gross estate includes, to the extent provided for in other sections of the Code, the date-of-death value of all of a decedent’s property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, wherever situated. In the case of a business owner, the principal asset of his gross estate may be his interest in a closely held business. In general, the value of the property for this purpose is the fair market value of the property as of the date of the decedent’s death.

A decedent’s taxable estate is determined by subtracting from the value of his gross estate any deductions provided for in the Code. Among these deductions is one for certain transfers to a surviving spouse, the effect of which is to remove the assets transferred to the surviving spouse from the decedent’s estate tax base.

After accounting for any allowable deductions, a gross amount of estate tax is computed, using a top marginal tax rate of 40%.

In order to ensure that a decedent only gets one run up through the rate brackets for all lifetime gifts and transfers at death, his taxable estate is combined with the value of the “adjusted taxable gifts” made by the decedent during his life, before applying tax rates to determine a tentative total amount of tax. The portion of the tentative tax attributable to lifetime gifts is then subtracted from the total tentative tax to determine the gross estate tax.

The estate tax liability is then determined by subtracting any allowable credits from the gross estate tax. The most significant credit allowed for estate tax purposes is the unified credit.

The unified credit is available with respect to a taxpayer’s taxable transfers by gift and at death. The credit offsets the tax up to a specified cumulative amount of lifetime and testamentary transfers (the “exemption amount”). For 2017, the inflation-indexed exemption amount was set at $5.49 million; prior to the Act, it was set to increase to $5.6 million in 2018.

Any portion of an individual taxpayer’s exemption amount that is used during his lifetime to offset taxable gifts reduces the exemption amount that remains available at his death to offset the taxable value of his estate. In other words, the unified credit available at death is reduced by the amount of unified credit used to offset gift tax incurred on gifts made during the decedent’s life.

In the case of a married decedent, an election is available under which any exemption amount that was not used by the decedent may be used by the decedent’s surviving spouse (the so-called “portability election”) during her life or at her death.

The estate tax generally is due within nine months of a decedent’s death. However, in recognition of the illiquid nature of most closely held businesses, the Code generally allows the executor of a deceased business owner’s estate to elect to pay the estate tax attributable to an interest in a closely held business in up to ten installments. An estate is eligible for payment of the estate tax in installments if the value of the decedent’s interest in a closely held business exceeds 35 percent of the decedent’s adjusted gross estate (i.e., the gross estate less certain deductions).

If the election is made, the estate may defer payment of principal and pay only interest for the first five years[2], followed by up to 10 annual installments of principal and interest. This provision effectively extends the time for paying estate tax by 14 years from the original due date of the estate tax.

Gift Tax

The Code imposes a tax for each calendar year on the transfer of property by gift during such year by any individual. The amount of taxable gifts for a calendar year is determined by subtracting from the total amount of gifts made during the year: (1) the gift tax annual exclusion; and (2) allowable deductions.

The gift tax for a taxable year is determined by: (1) computing a tentative tax on the combined amount of all taxable gifts for such year and all prior calendar years using the common gift tax and estate tax rate (up to 40 percent); (2) computing a tentative tax only on all prior-year gifts; (3) subtracting the tentative tax on prior-year gifts from the tentative tax computed for all years to arrive at the portion of the total tentative tax attributable to current-year gifts; and, finally, (4) subtracting the amount of unified credit not consumed by prior-year gifts.

The amount of a taxpayer’s taxable gifts for the year is determined by subtracting from the total amount of the taxpayer’s gifts for the year the gift tax annual exclusion amount and any available deductions.

Donors of lifetime gifts are provided an annual exclusion of $15,000 per donee in 2018 (indexed for inflation from the 1997 annual exclusion amount of $10,000) for gifts of “present interests” in property. Married couples can gift up to $30,000 per donee per year without consuming any of their unified credit.

GST Tax

The GST tax is a separate tax that can apply in addition to either the gift tax or the estate tax. The tax rate and exemption amount for GST tax purposes are set by reference to the estate tax rules. The GST tax is imposed using the highest estate tax rate (40%). Tax is imposed on cumulative generation-skipping transfers in excess of the generation-skipping transfer tax exemption amount in effect for the year of the transfer. The generation-skipping transfer tax exemption for a given year is equal to the estate tax exemption amount in effect for that year ($5.49 million in 2017).

Basis in property received at death

A bequest, or other transfer at death, of appreciated (or loss) property is not an income tax realization event for the transferor-decedent or his estate, but the Code nevertheless provides special rules for determining a recipient’s income tax basis in assets received from a decedent.

Property acquired from a decedent or his estate generally takes a stepped-up basis in the hands of the recipient. “Stepped-up basis” means that the basis of property acquired from a decedent’s estate generally is the fair market value on the date of the decedent’s death. Providing a fair market value basis eliminates the recognition of income on any appreciation in value of the property that occurred prior to the decedent’s death (by stepping-up its basis).[3]

In the case of a closely held business, depending upon the nature of the business entity (for example, a partnership or a corporation) and of its assets, the income tax savings resulting from the basis step-up may be realized as reduced gain on the sale of the decedent’s interest in the business, or as a reduced income tax liability from the operation of the business (for example, in the form of increased depreciation or amortization deductions).

The Act

To the disappointment of many, the Act did not repeal the federal estate tax.

However, the Act greatly increased the federal estate tax, gift tax, and GST tax exemption amount – for decedents dying, and for gifts made, after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026 – and it preserved portability.

The “basic exemption amount” was increased from $5 million (as of 2010) to $10 million; as indicated above, this amount is indexed for inflation occurring after 2011, and was set at $5.6 million for 2018 prior to the Act.

As a result of the Act, this exemption amount was doubled to $11.2 million per person beginning in 2018 – basically, $22.4 million per married couple – and will be adjusted annually for inflation through 2025.

To put this into perspective, over 109,000 estate tax returns were filed in 2001, of which approximately 50,000 were taxable. Compare this with 2016, when approximately 11,000 returns were filed, of which approximately 5,000 were taxable. The decline appears to be due primarily to the increase in the filing threshold (based on the exemption amount) from $675,000 in 2001 to $5.45 million in 2016.[4] An increase from $5.49 million in 2017 to $11.2 million in 2018 should have a similar effect.

In addition, and notwithstanding the increased exemption amount, the Act retained the stepped-up basis rule for determining the income tax basis of assets acquired from a decedent. As a result, property acquired from a decedent’s estate generally will continue to take a stepped-up basis.

Implications

As stated immediately above, the owners of many closely held businesses will not be subject to the federal estate tax – at least not through 2025[5] – thanks to the greatly increased exemption amount and to continued portability.

Thus, a deceased owner’s taxable (not gross) estate in 2018 – even if we only account for conservative valuations of his business interests and for reasonable estate administration expenses – may be as great as $22.4 million (assuming portability) without incurring any federal estate tax.

Moreover, this amount ignores the benefits of fairly conservative gift planning including, for example, the long-term impact of regular annual exclusion gifting (and gift-splitting between spouses), the effect of transfers made for partial consideration (as in a QPRT), or for full and adequate consideration (as in zeroed-out GRATs and installment sales), as well as the benefit of properly-structured life insurance that is not includible in the decedent’s estate.

With these tools, otherwise taxable estates[6], that potentially may be much larger than the new exemption amount, may be brought within its coverage.

The increased exemption amount will also allow many owners to secure a basis step-up for their assets upon their death without incurring additional estate tax, by allowing these owners to retain assets.

Of course, some states, like New York, will continue to impose an estate tax on estates that will not be subject to the federal estate tax.[7] In those cases, the higher federal exemption amount, coupled with the absence of a New York gift tax, provides an opportunity for many taxpayers to reduce their New York taxable estate without any federal estate or gift tax consequences, other than the loss of a basis step-up. The latter may be significant enough, however, that the taxpayer may decide to bear the 16% New York estate tax on his taxable estate rather than lose the income tax savings.[8]

Planning

In light of the foregoing, taxpayers should, at the very least, review their existing estate plan and the documents that will implement it – “for man also knoweth not his time.”[9]

For example, wills or revocable trusts that provide for a mandatory credit shelter or bypass trust may have to be revised, depending upon the expected size of the estate, lest the increased exemption amount defeat one’s testamentary plan.

A more flexible instrument may be warranted – perhaps one that relies upon a disclaimer by a surviving spouse – especially given the December 31, 2025 expiration date for the increased exemption amount, and the “scheduled” reversion in 2026 to the pre-2018 exemption level (albeit adjusted for inflation).

The buy-out provisions of shareholder, partnership and operating agreements should also be reviewed in light of what may be a reduced need for liquidity following the death of an owner. For example, should such a buy-out be mandatory?[10]

Some taxpayers, with larger estates, may want to take advantage of the increased exemption amount before it expires in 2026 so as to remove assets, and the income and appreciation thereon, from their estates.[11] This applies for both estate and GST tax purposes; a trust for the benefit of skip persons may be funded now using the temporarily increased GST exemption amount.

Of course, gifting comes at a cost: the loss of stepped-up basis upon the death of the taxpayer.

Conversely, some taxpayers may want to consider bringing certain appreciated assets (for example, assets that they may have previously gifted to a family member) back into their estates in order to attain the benefit of a basis step-up.

Those taxpayers who decide to take advantage of the increased exemption amount by making lifetime gifts should consider how they may best leverage it.

Some New York taxpayers – who may otherwise have to reduce their gross estates in order to reduce their NY estate tax burden – may want to consider changing their domicile so as to avoid the New York estate tax entirely while holding on to their assets (that would be sheltered by the increased exemption amount) and thereby securing the step-up in basis upon their passing.

There may also be other planning options to consider, some of which have been considered in earlier posts to this blog. For example, ESBTs may now include nonresident aliens as potential current beneficiaries without causing the S corporation to lose its “S” election.

As always, tax savings, estate planning, and gifting strategies have to be considered in light of what the taxpayer is comfortable giving up. In the case of a closely held business owner, any loss of control may be untenable, as may the reduction of cash flow that is attributable to his ownership interest.

Moreover, there are non-tax reasons for structuring the disposition of one’s estate that may far outweigh any tax savings that may result from a different disposition. Tails, dogs, wagging – you know the idiom.

*  At least until 2026 – keep reading.  With apologies to St. Paul. 1 Corinthians, 15:55.

[1] Pub. L. 115-97 (the “Act”); signed into law on December 22, 2017.

[2] The interest rate applicable to the amount of estate tax attributable to the taxable value of the closely held business in excess of $1 million (adjusted for inflation) is equal to 45 percent of the rate applicable to underpayments of tax (i.e., 45 percent of the Federal short-term rate plus three percentage points). This interest is not deductible for estate or income tax purposes.

[3] It also eliminates the tax benefit from any unrealized loss (by stepping-down its basis to fair market value).

[4] http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-many-people-pay-estate-tax

[5] This provision expires after 2025. Assuming the provision survives beyond 2020 (the next presidential election), query whether the exemption amount will be scaled back. Has the proverbial cat been let out of the proverbial bag?

[6] Including individuals who had already exhausted their pre-2018 exemption amount.

[7] The NY estate tax exemption amount for 2018 is $5.25 million.

[8] In the case of a NYC decedent, for example, the tax savings to be considered would include the federal capital gains tax of 20%, the federal surtax on net investment income of 3.8%, the NY State income tax of 8.82%, and the NYC income tax of 3.876%. Of course, the likelihood of an asset’s being sold after death also has to be considered.

[9] Ecclesiastes, 9:12. As morbid as it may sound, planning for an elderly or ill taxpayer is different from planning for a younger or healthier individual – it is especially so now given the 2026 expiration of the increased exemption amount.

[10] Of course, there may be overriding business reasons for such a buy-out.

[11] If the exemption amount were to return to its pre-2018 levels in 2026, query how the IRS will account for any pre-2026 gifts that were covered by the increased exemption amount. The Act directs the IRS to issue regulations addressing this point.