Taxation of estates & trusts

TOPICS / TAX

November 10, 2021

IRS issues inflation adjustments for 2022 returns

The IRS issued updated income tax brackets and other inflation-adjusted amounts under 62 Code sections, including a new standard deduction amount.

September 27, 2021

Final regulations establish a user fee for estate tax closing letters

The letters, which the IRS provides as a courtesy to executors and other authorized estate representatives, will now cost $67.

September 1, 2021

Tax Court OKs estate’s marital deduction

A decedent’s marriage is held valid based on the place-of-celebration rule.

June 1, 2021

Minority interest discounts apply to charitable bequests

The Tax Court partially upholds gift and estate tax deficiencies involving real estate LLC interests held by a family trust and includible in a decedent’s estate.

October 26, 2020

2021 inflation adjustments and tax tables issued

The IRS issued the 2021 inflation adjustment amounts and tax tables for use in preparing 2021 tax returns in the 2022 filing season. Many of the over 60 items increased from 2020.

September 22, 2020

Final regs. outline trust and estate expenses still deductible under TCJA

The IRS issued final regulations for distinguishing trusts’ and estates’ allowable deductions from miscellaneous itemized deductions currently suspended by the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

May 8, 2020

Trusts and estates are permitted certain deductions

The IRS issued proposed regulations to clarify that certain deductions are allowed to an estate or nongrantor trust because they are not miscellaneous itemized deductions.

March 27, 2020

Gift and GST returns added to postponed tax and filing deadlines

The IRS postponed the payment and return filing requirements for gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes due April 15 to July 15, matching prior postponements granted to federal income taxes and returns.

January 1, 2020

Estate is entitled to refund of Sec. 6651 late-filing penalty

The full tax liability had been paid by the extended due date.

November 25, 2019

Final regs. eliminate estate and gift tax clawback

The IRS issued final regulations that reconcile the current higher exclusion for the estate and gift tax unified credit amount in effect under the TCJA with the lower unified credit scheduled to go into effect in 2026.

October 1, 2019

Great time for a GRAT

Grantor retained annuity trusts may be an optimal wealth-transfer vehicle for many.

September 1, 2019

Supreme Court holds North Carolina cannot tax trust lacking minimum contact

The tax violated due process where the only connection to the state was beneficiaries’ residence there, the Court states.

August 1, 2019

Digital assets after death

Estate planning should account for a client’s digital assets, which often have significant financial or sentimental value.

June 21, 2019

Supreme Court holds North Carolina cannot tax trust

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision holding that North Carolina’s attempt to tax a trust based solely on the residence of a beneficiary violates the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.

May 1, 2019

Avoid tax traps with a timely appraisal

New basis-consistency requirements make defensible valuations even more important.

April 17, 2019

Can a state tax a trust based on the beneficiary’s residency?

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that will decide whether states can tax trusts based solely on the fact that a trust beneficiary lives in the state.

March 1, 2019

Estate and gift exclusion clawback addressed in proposed regs.

A special rule allows the TCJA’s higher exclusion amount to continue to apply in some instances after the provision’s scheduled sunset.

March 1, 2019

Trust and estate income tax returns under the TCJA

The law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affects many aspects of these so-called fiduciary returns.

November 21, 2018

Estate and gift exclusion clawback addressed in proposed regs.

The IRS addressed issues and made conforming revisions arising from the temporary increase in basic exclusion amount for estate and gift tax enacted by legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

September 1, 2018

Trust and estate tax planning article wins JofA Best Article Award

Sonja E. Pippin, associate professor in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at the University of Nevada, Reno, received the JofA’s Lawler Award for the best article of 2017.