More Wealth Transfer Tax Changes on the Way?

Politicians are engaged in a seemingly endless debate about tax rates, “loopholes,” spending cuts and similar issues. That is because a new budget must be passed every year, and each proposal undoubtedly comes with suggested changes to various tax and spend rules and regulations. For example, President Obama recently released his proposed 2015 budget. Even a cursory glance at the document reveals that, if passed, it would have clear implications on wealth transfers and estate planning for New York residents.

Estate Tax Proposal
Most notably, the proposed budget calls for the estate tax provisions to revert back to where they were in 2009–an exemption level of only $3.5 million and a top tax rate of 45%. This is in contrast to the current $5.34 million exemption level and 40% top rate. The current tax is pegged to inflation, and so the exemption level will rise slightly each year. Per the terms of the proposed budget, this new tax level and rate would not go into effect until 2018.

Even with this presidential proposal, many do not expect federal officials to actually change the estate tax details, especially considering a high profile compromise was just reach a year and a half ago. The current estate tax rules were only codified at the beginning of 2013 as part of the compromise plan known as the American Taxpayer Relief Act.

Many Other Possibilities
As a helpful Forbes article discusses, beyond the estate tax issue, the President’s budget also suggests changes to various estate planning tools. These include limits on annual tax-free gifts to trusts, changes to the use of grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), and eliminating “dynasty trusts.”

As always, it is critical to re-iterate that these are mere proposals. With a divided Congress, it is likely that any final budget would look far different than the one proposed by the President. In most cases, the executive’s first proposal is strategically written in order to position it for debate and negotiation. That said, however, the fact that some of these options were specifically included in the proposal means that they are on the radar screens of officials seeking to limit resident rights to transfer assets freely.

It is impossible to predict what policymakers in the future might do. However, an experienced estate planning attorney can ensure that you are best positioned to take advantage of all legal options to lower tax burdens when passing on assets. An attorney can also update and review your plan on a regular basis to determine if changes in the law necessitate altering any provisions of the plan.