Persistent inflation and high interest rates have driven up costs and negatively affected charities. As a result, taking an efficient, tax-smart approach to maximizing donor impact has never been more important. Here are 12 ways to increase donor impact and potentially reduce taxable income in 2023 and beyond.
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Beginning with the trustee fiduciary duties to the beneficiaries of a trust, attorney Abbey Magnuson of Foley & Lardner’s Estate & Trusts Practice Group discusses ways to mitigate trustee liability in this 10-minute interview with Brian Lucareli. Abbey also emphasizes the role Family Offices play in the administration of trusts and how they can help lessen trustee liability issues.*Download file for a transcript of the interview. Press play to listen.
Residents in 43 states pay state income tax, with the highest rate being 13.3%. When combined with the top federal marginal tax rate and the net investment income tax, residents subject to the highest state income tax rate could face a total levy of 54.1% of income. As a result, those residents are interested in finding ways to mitigate the tax. An incomplete gift non-grantor trust (ING trust) could be the answer.
While the tax environment has become more complex for businesses, there are opportunities to minimize their tax burden on the state and local level. In this 10-minute interview, attorney Lynn Gandhi of Foley & Lardner’s Tax group joins Brian Lucareli to discuss the impact of state and local taxes such as state income taxes, sales and use taxes, payroll taxes, excise taxes, and withholding taxes. Lynn also shares practical solutions and structures to avoid paying more taxes.
Being asked to oversee a family trust is a big deal. It’s a huge responsibility, and one you may not feel prepared to accept. Even if you’ve participated in or been exposed to the world of trusts, you may not have the knowledge or skills to be an effective trustee right now.
While it might seem like a great position to hold a concentrated position in a low-basis stock that has appreciated over time, it poses several challenges related to investment risk and taxes. Here are some charitable options for lowering your risk while doing the most good with your gains, whether that means giving to a worthy cause, gifting to a family member in a lower tax bracket, or both.
Over the past 15 years, the IRS has attempted to ramp up its scrutiny of wealthy individuals. With billions in new funding promised under the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS has announced additional tax enforcement efforts focused on the wealthiest filers, including high-income individuals, partnerships, and large corporations. Attorney Erin Lasenby discusses some of these enforcement efforts and the filers that would be affected by each. With the revitalized efforts, the targeted filers should be prepared for the IRS shifting their audit attention to them.
Choosing a trustee is a major decision—one that may impact you and your family in many ways for generations to come. Essentially, when you establish a trust for the benefit of others, you are handing down your values through the terms of the trust and your contributed financial assets. And with an increasing number of trusts lasting for multiple generations—and even into perpetuity in some states—it’s important to understand the role of a trustee, how to select a trustee, and the advantages to naming both a corporate trustee and an individual trustee.
It may seem that there will always be time to address estate planning. However, a unique opportunity to maximize the amount of wealth that can be tax-efficiently passed to heirs will expire at the end of 2025. Furthermore, legislation could curb lifetime exemption limits even sooner. The opportunity is even more pressing because the current market downturn represents an especially advantageous time to optimize your taxable estate before markets eventually recover.
When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was passed in late 2017, the “sunsetting” of many of the provisions in 2026 seemed far away. Among those of benefit to high-net-worth individuals was the increasing of the gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions to $11.18 million per person ($22.36 million for married couples) for 2018. The tax exemptions are indexed annually for inflation through December 31, 2025.