With possible tax law changes on the horizon, it can feel daunting to make any moves before knowing the outcome. But year-end is still a good time to get your financial house in order and fine-tune your long-term strategy to take advantage of tax savings opportunities.
Individual employees can be an organization’s most valuable asset or their most significant risk. While each company and family offices will have different challenges and needs, there are best practices that can be implemented to ensure employees are properly recruited, vetted, hired, retained, and terminated. By taking the necessary steps, y...
The House Budget Committee released a third version of H.R. 5376 (the Build Back Better Act) on November 3, 2021. This draft increases the state and local tax deduction, brings back many of the retirement proposals from the original September 13 draft of the Bild Back Better Act, and retains the surcharge on high-income individuals, estates, a...
The House Budget Committee released a version of H.R. 5376 (the Build Back Better Act), which eliminated many of the previously proposed tax increases that would have impacted individuals. However, the rewrite of the Build Back Better Act includes a tax surcharge on high-income individuals, estates, and trusts that would be imposed and be...
The White House released a retooled framework for the Build Back Better Act on October 28, 2021. Notable aspects of the Biden framework that will affect estate planning include estate and gift tax exemptions, grantor trusts, valuation rules, and the new surtax on high earners and non-grantor trusts—which could bring the total surtax to 8%). I...
The Build Back Better Act recently introduced in the US House of Representatives includes many tax provisions that would significantly impact US taxpayers. However, any major bill’s road from introduction to enactment is typically long, winding, and unpredictable. This article summarizes four tax planning–related questions that are ...
With so many potential tax changes ahead, it's time to make sure you're checking all the boxes on things you can do to protect your wealth. Now is the time to ensure your wealth plan reflects any changes in your circumstances or goals, the economic landscape, and the current tax environment. Review this checklist for potential strategies to...
Residency changes are often fraught with uncertainty from a tax perspective. States are not known for easily letting go of tax revenue and will often fight hard to keep it. If you have you relocated recently or are considering a move, it’s important to understand why your move may put you at high risk for an audit.
Family offices anticipating a variety of tax law changes now have more details to consider. How would the tax law changes proposed by the House Ways & Means Committee affect family offices and wealthy families? Tax specialists examine the considerations, including the surcharge on high-income individuals, estates, and trusts that would be effec...
The proposed Build Back America Act, a $1.85 trillion social-policy and climate framework, is working its way through Congress. While the notable prior proposals were absent, the current legislation proposes a new income tax surcharge that will be added on top of the ordinary and capital gains tax rates. The surcharge—which can bring the tota...
While the gift and estate tax exemption is scheduled to drop to approximately one-half the current amount of $11.7 million on January 1, 2026, there are tax proposals in play that could change the estate and gift tax laws much sooner. Uncertainty abounds, but planning options still exist through various trust instruments, including gifting to the n...
The Biden administration’s American Families and other tax proposals may complicate the tax landscape for high-income owners. Given the real possibility of targeted tax increases on the wealthy and President Biden earmarking $80 million for IRS audit efforts, business owners and family offices should review their current situations to identif...
As negotiations continue, the latest text of the proposed reconciliation bill, titled Build Back Better Act, is void of many of the prior proposed tax changes that would have upended estate planning.
The big wealth transition is now underway, with ownership of more than 60% of family enterprise expected to be handed off within the next decade. With the input of business owners and Family Enterprise Advisors, this report takes an in-depth look at transition planning and how family business leaders can prepare their family, as well as their busin...
Each family’s legacy is as unique as the family itself. It can be a bloodline, a name, heirlooms, a legal entity or family stories, myths, and artifacts. In this fourth and final report in the series on family business succession, key insights are shared on the important role that legacies play in uniting the core purpose of the business with the f...