Tax Reform and 2018 Transfer Tax Exemptions

December 06, 2017 | News

The House and Senate are negotiating the final details of tax reform legislation, but it appears the federal gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) taxes will remain in place to some extent. Without any changes to the law, the lifetime exemption will rise to $5.6 million per person and the annual exclusion will rise to $15,000 per recipient per year.  The House’s version of the tax reform bill doubles the lifetime exemption in 2018 to $11.2 million and phases out estate and GST tax by 2024. The Senate’s version also doubles the lifetime exemption in 2018 but keeps the estate and GST tax in place.  In both bills, the gift tax is retained and includes a lifetime exemption amount in 2018 equal to $11.2 million, which is then indexed to inflation.  It is extremely unlikely that the new law will apply retroactively to the beginning of 2017, therefore the planning discussed below under the current law should be considered. We are happy to discuss your planning with you.