We at Paragon Financial Advisors are not accountants and urge you to verify any items we discuss with your tax professional to determine its implications in your particular situation. We also do not believe you should “let the tax tail wag the investment dog.” That is, your investing should not be dependent solely on tax considerations. However, tax consequences certainly should be considered when all other things are equal. Taxes can have a significant impact on your total economic well- being. It is in that spirit that we discuss the Congressional resolution (enacted at the last minute) to the fiscal cliff.
One of the more favorable (relatively) aspects of the
American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was the impact on estate and gift taxes.
Prior to this act, estate tax rates were scheduled to rise to a maximum tax
rate of 55% and the exclusion amount from this tax was to fall from $5.1
million per person to $1 million per person. With the 2012 Act, the exclusion
amount was made permanent at $5 million
indexed for inflation (the current amount for 2013 is $5.25 million). The
tax rate, however, was raised from 35% to 40%.
Another permanent aspect of the ’12 Act was the provision
of “portability.” Portability simply allows the surviving spouse to utilize the
deceased spouse’s unused portion of the exclusion amount without the necessity
of utilizing trust arrangements. This concept appeared in 2011, but was made
permanent in 2012. It is important to note that this portability applies only to the last deceased spouse so, for
multiple marriages, some planning pitfalls appear.
While the exemption amount remained higher and the tax
rate lower than many had expected, there are other estate planning techniques
that are still “at risk.” Some trust planning techniques ( such as grantor
retained annuity trusts—GRAT’s) and the discount valuations for family limited
partnerships (FLP’s) may be in danger; hence, there is some urgency in
implementing those types of plans if appropriate.
