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A Life insurance audit is an everything-to-gain, nothing-to-lose proposition for a trustee of a trust that owns life insurance where significant planning is in place. A proper, thorough audit is needed to mitigate the fiduciary liability. It also starts with understanding the difference between a Life Insurance Review and a Life Insurance Audit.

Under the current Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), a wide range of income tax planning techniques can be used as part of the estate planning process. One primary technique includes a focus on managing low-basis assets to achieve a step-up basis. Other techniques center around the beneficiary deemed owned trust. While more than one technique can be used in estate planning, caution should be taken when considering which technique is appropriate for you.

When taxes don’t matter, and that is rarely the case for most investors, pre-tax returns are sufficient in determining whether the investment did well or poorly relative to a benchmark. But for taxable accounts, pre-tax returns provide an incomplete picture, and relying on them can lead to poor investment decisions. In such cases, using after-tax returns, after-tax benchmark returns, and Tax Alpha in your decision process is more relevant, and could help you to increase your wealth on an after-tax basis.

As more and more investors look to implement impact investment strategies, interesting questions are being raised in the context of impact investing by fiduciaries appointed to administer a trust for beneficiaries. Suppose the beneficiary of a multi-generational, non-charitable trust is interested in integrating her values in a trust established for her benefit. How should a trustee determine if the request is consistent with the trustee’s duties under the Prudent Investor Rule?

Lawmakers are well aware of the significant contributions to economic and job growth made by small businesses. As a direct incentive for starting and investing in small businesses, Congress has provided varying levels of beneficial treatment in the tax code for Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) since 1993. With the recent tax laws, including the reduction of the C Corporation tax rate to a flat 21%, it has made C Corporation status and QSBS treatment more attractive.

There is a growing desire to combat money laundering as part of the ongoing worldwide efforts against terrorism, and a crackdown on tax evasion has been recognized as one way to satisfy the urgent need for more government revenue. These dual motivations have led to the extension and enactment of new reporting standards regarding foreign financial assets.

In the absence of proper planning, the death of an owner of a closely held business may lead to an estate tax liability that can devastate the business, even with the increased federal estate and gift tax exemption under the 2017 tax legislation.

If you are a global family and are considering an investment in the United States, you may have questions about the U.S. tax rules. Through a series of 10 key questions, answers are provided to help the non-U.S. individual investor better understand the U.S. tax system. Other takeaways, including reporting obligations and privacy concerns, may help mitigate the unintended application of U.S. tax.