Posts Tagged ‘tax free gifts’

Early this year, Congress passed a two-year revision of the Estate tax law.  One of the elements of this “two year wonder” is that the amount exempt from gift tax was increased to $5 million.  This meant that a married couple with proper estate planning in place could gift up to $10 million to heirs without any gift tax.  We have never seen an exemption of this magnitude.  The law as passed earlier this year expires 12-31-2012 when, if congress doesn’t act, it returns to $1 million. 

The congressional “super committee” charged with balancing our budget is seriously considering  changing this $5 million exemption back to $1 million THIS MONTH!

Rumor has it that for a variety of reasons, this is a compromise Republicans appear willing to accept.

The fear is that the change will take place in a bill which will get an immediate yea or nay vote in the senate.  If passed as expected, it will be enacted as part of a deficit reduction measure which will become law as of the vote….likely on November November 23^rd (Thanksgiving is early this year).

Those who have been planning to make large gifts to take advantage of this $5 million exemption need to complete these gifts by November 23^rd to be safe.  If you had planned on revising your estate plan to put a large gift into play before the end of 2012, I think you should move on those revisions quickly. 

Gifts of this magnitude should never be made without careful thought and planning.  If you have that sort of wealth and you wish to pass it to your heirs at some point, it would be extremely wise to get started on the planning.  If this pending reduction doesn’t become law this month and it is being considered as a deficit reduction measure, there is little chance that the $5 million exemption will survive into 2013 and beyond as many estate planners initially thought.

We always suggest that you seek professional assistance when considering strategies like this.  It is MOST IMPORTANT in the area of estate and gift planning!