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The Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service has issued initial proposed regulations and instructions for investments in qualified opportunity funds (“QOF”), a program designed to incentive the reallocation of capital to designated low-income census tracts. This long-anticipated guidance is expected to allow investors, business owners, real estate developers, and fund managers to be able to confidently seize the powerful tax deferral, reduction, and exclusion benefits provided by the QOF program.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 created new incentives for investment into certain communities throughout the United States that have been designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) by the U.S. Treasury Department. Investors can take advantage of the statute’s unique opportunity for deferral and exclusion of capital gains taxes by investing in designated distressed communities or QOZs. In doing so, it is important to know the mechanics of investing in QOZs via Qualified Opportunity Funds, along with the risks that come with the opportunity.

What choices do you have when it comes to transparency? How open and accessible is your family foundation—to the extended family, to grant seekers and partners, to the public? What approach do your colleague foundations take, and why? This guide examines how family funders are thinking, acting—and not acting—when it comes to how transparent they are with others. It encourages donors, boards, and staff of family foundations (and other giving vehicles) to purposefully consider your choices regarding transparency in grantmaking, governance, and operations.

With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at the end of 2017, more family businesses are examining their corporate structure and considering the tax implications. Specifically, companies that are currently structured as “pass-through” entities (e.g., an S corporation, partnership, or LLC taxed as an S corporation or partnership) are examining the new-found benefits of converting to a C-Corp.

Structured as an irrevocable, complex trust for the benefit of the transferor's future generations, a Dynasty Trust is an option for high-net-worth individuals to maximize the amount that can be transferred during their lifetime or upon death to support multiple generations, transfer tax free. Using an illustrated example, learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of a Dynasty Trust.

Investors are purchasing and selling virtual currencies (also known as “crypto currencies”) at a faster rate than ever before. Although these virtual currencies are not legal currency in the U.S., the IRS has been slowly issuing guidance on the income taxation and the manner in which individuals should report gains or losses from the sale or exchange of these currencies on their income tax returns.

The ability to attract, retain, and reward a superior workforce is fundamental to every organization’s long-term growth. One way to achieve it is to offer stock options to employees, giving them a stake in the company’s value as part of their compensation package. In general, there are two forms of stock options: nonqualified stock options and incentive stock options.

Education is an expense that impacts many families each year. As the cost of secondary and higher education continue to rise, many families should consider the tax benefits of funding educational expenses. The type of vehicle used to fund educational expenses varies and can include education trusts and qualified tuition programs that are designed as investment accounts.

There are many considerations that go into making a planned gift, including the maximization of its impact. There are three types of planned giving: lifetime giving, giving at death, and hybrid planned giving. Factors to consider are whether you have the capacity to make sizeable gifts during your lifetime, the potential for income streams during life, and the tax effects of making the gift during life, or at death.

There is great responsibility when serving the ultra-high net worth clients, especially those who are concerned about preserving a family legacy and the successful transfer of their wealth and/or business. In this issue of Family Wealth Advisors Insights, three areas of concerns are addressed for the advisors and their families: maximizing their foundation endowment funds for social impact; what business owners need to know about their 2018 taxes; and the rise of self-made female billionaires and what it means for the future of philanthropy in the U.S.