The changes coming to income, capital gains, and gift/estate taxes may be substantial and far-reaching.
Join this webinar event, designed for fundraisers, to give you a first look at the pending storm in simple and easy to understand language.
With two tax-related bills already proposed in the Senate, and the President's promised tax increases gaining momentum, we are looking at the most sweeping changes to personal taxes since 1986, and perhaps the greatest shakeup for estate and retirement planning in many generations.
The following are the most significant changes likely to happen:
Estate tax lifetime exemption, currently $11.7 million per person, dropping to $3.5 million per person (2009 level)
Gift tax lifetime exemption will only be $1 million per person (2001 level)
Earners of $400,000 or more may see their tax bracket jump to 39.6%
Capital gains and dividend rates for earners of $1 million or more jumping to 43.4% from 23.8%
Step-up in basis at death likely changing
In the Senate, only 51 votes are needed to pass budget reconciliation legislation and unless there is opposition from Senate or House Democrats, most of these changes are likely to happen.
As a result of these changes, current estate plans for higher net wealth individuals will need to be reexamined and adjusted. And, many more people will need to take estate planning much more seriously. Additionally, many will reevaluate their investment strategies.
As fundraisers, particularly those involved with major gifts, you need to start preparing as Planned Giving may be a much greater factor going forward.
Jonathan Gudema
Planned Giving Advirsors, LLC
Jonathan Gudema, Esq. Principal, Planned Giving Advisors, LLC Jonathan has over 22 years of experience working with and advising non-profit organizations and their donors on planned gift arrangements and tax-advantaged charitable estate planning options.
Additionally, Jonathan is a member of the New York Bar, and serves as in house counsel to a Family Wealth Office, where he has overseen over $400 million in successful wealth transfers since 2007. In 2011, Jonathan launched Planned Giving Advisors LLC where he provides consulting services to nonprofit planned giving programs while continuing his work at the Family Wealth Office.
Jonathan is also the author of The Planned Giving Blog, which provides news and commentary on the field of planned giving with over 1,700 subscribers and 175,000 visitors since its launch in 2010. Jonathan earned a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and a J.D. from Western New England College School of Law.