Gift, Estate and GST Exclusion Amounts for 2021

As 2021 begins, for now (although this may change, as described below) the current gift and estate tax exclusions, GST exemption amount, tax rates, and annual gift tax exclusion are as follows:

Federal

Gift and Estate Tax Exclusions

The gift and estate tax exclusion amount (also called the “applicable exclusion amount”) increased slightly from $11.58 million (in 2020) to $11.7 million (in 2021) per individual (or $23.4 million for a married couple).1 Estates of decedents survived by a spouse may still elect to pass any of the decedent’s unused applicable exclusion amount to the surviving spouse by an election made on a timely filed estate tax return for the decedent with a surviving spouse (also known as “portability”).

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ACA, Unconstitutionality and the Statute of Limitations - Sorting Out the Potential Mess

By George D. Karibjanian

The constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) is currently before the United States Supreme Court. An unconstitutionality determination may have ramifications for any taxpayer who has previously paid a tax created by the ACA.

This article was published in Bloomberg Tax, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal 48 CPJ 08, 08/07/20. This article is available for download for personal use only; the article cannot be republished or redistributed without the express written consent of Bloomberg INDG.

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Maryland Portability - Retroactive to 2011

Beginning 2019, Maryland joined Hawaii in allowing portability of its estate tax exclusion. Unique to Maryland is that it allows portability retroactively for deceased spouses who died between 2011 and 2018. Tax benefits are typically not granted based on facts occurring in past years. This surprising development now places the onus on surviving spouses, professional fiduciaries and advisors to be vigilant in determining the application of these rules.

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The Estate Tax - Being Revived?

This past week was a big one for the venerable estate tax, now 102 years old – Revenue Act of 1916 passed September 8, 2016.  Democrats put forth proposals for stiffening the estate tax – by decreasing the exclusion, increasing the rate and eliminating certain planning techniques (so-called “loopholes”, some of which are currently officially sanctioned by Congress in the estate tax statutes).  Senator Warren advocated a wealth tax.  The Washington Post alone had eight articles about the estate tax from Sunday, February 3rd to February 6th.  The paper’s lead editorial on Monday, February 4th, supported the imposition of a more robust estate tax.

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