The Estate Tax Mess - A Sample Client Letter With the Gory Details

This is a sample client letter I got indirectly from the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils.  It sets-forth the seriousness of the present situation.   Have you heard from your personal estate planning attorney yet regarding this mess?  If not, make contact immediately to review your estate planning documents; or, call us for a review.
"Dear ___________:

As you may have heard, the federal estate tax rules changed radically in 2010, and could change radically again in 2011 unless Congress passes new legislation. This letter is intended to advise you of what has happened and encourage you to reevaluate your estate plan as soon as possible.

2001 Tax Act. In 2001, Congress passed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) which provided for significant phased-in increases in the federal estate, gift and generation skipping tax (GST) exemptions and lower tax rates. EGTRRA provisions included:

• In 2009, the estate and GST exemptions increased to $3.5 million per decedent, with a flat 45% estate and GST tax rate on any excess. The gift tax exemption was $1.0 million, with tax rates from 41% to 45%.
• In 2010, the federal estate and GST taxes were repealed for one year. The gift tax $1.0 million exemption remained, with a lower flat tax rate of 35%. Thus, you have to die or pay gift tax to get the benefit of the change. The step-up in basis rules (which gave a "fresh-start" fair market basis for most assets of a decedent) was replaced with an adjusted carry-over basis. These new basis rules permit a step-up in basis of up to $1.3 million, plus an additional $3.0 million for certain spousal transfers at death.
• On January 1, 2011, EGTRRA was automatically repealed, resulting in an odd situation: A $3.5 million estate and GST exemption and flat 45% estate tax rate in 2009, no estate or GST tax in 2010, and a $1.0 million estate exemption and tax rate of up to 60% in 2011.

What Happened in 2009? Estate planning practitioners almost universally expected Congress to carry the 2009 estate tax rules across 2010 (both Representative Rangel as Chair of the House Ways and Means and Senator Baucus as Chair of the Senate Finance Committee said it would happen earlier last fall). However, unexpectedly in December the House failed to act on a one year extension and instead sent the Senate a bill to make the 2009 rules permanent. Because the Senate was focused on health care and there was broad disagreement in the Senate on what to do with estate taxes, Congress enacted no changes to EGTRRA's 2010 rules. Thus, effective as of January 1, 2010, there is no federal estate or GST tax.

Planning in Chaos. Congress's failure to adopt estate tax legislation in 2009 and the possibility that changes will not be adopted during 2010, radically change the estate planning considerations of many clients. For example, Congress has indicated that in 2010 about 6,000 decedents will benefit from the elimination of estate taxes, but over 70,000 heirs will pay higher income taxes because of the change in the income tax basis rules for assets received from decedents.

2010 Changes. The U.S. has an unpredictable planning environment in which any number of radically different changes may occur in 2010:

Congress may do nothing in 2010, in which case there is an adjusted carryover basis, and no federal estate or GST tax for people who die in 2010. While you probably will not die in 2010, you still need to consider planning for that possibility, because not planning for these changes, if death occurs, can be disastrous. For example:

• Formula clauses (e.g. terms that allocated your estate exemption to a "by-pass trust") in your planning documents could inadvertently disinherit some heirs and/or your surviving spouse and/or create conflicts among family members on how your documents should be properly interpreted.
• Conflicts could arise among your heirs and fiduciaries on asset basis issues.
• Inadvertent GST taxes could be incurred after 2010.
• Passing assets directly to your surviving spouse may result in higher estate taxes after 2010.
• Inadvertent state taxes could be incurred from out of date terms in your documents.
• Congress may adopt legislation to carry the 2009 rules over 2010, retroactive to January 1, 2010. There is broad disagreement on whether a retroactive tax bill would be constitutional. If a retroactive law it adopted, it will be challenged as unconstitutional and it could take years for the Supreme Court to rule on the issue. Until such a ruling, uncertainty will prevail. Those dying after any enactment should not have that uncertainty. In any event, your estate plan should contemplate dying both before or after a potential retroactive enactment, which may or may not be constitutional.

· If Congress acts in 2010 to address the estate tax issues, it could:

•  Adopt permanent estate tax exemption, beginning in 2010 or 2011. If so, most commentators anticipate estate tax exemptions to fall between $2-5.0 million and tax rates 35% to 45%.
•  Adopt a temporary higher estate exemption.
•  Adopt rules to limit or eliminate valuation discounts.

2011 Changes. Unless Congress enacts new legislation in 2010, then on January 1, 2011, a number of automatic changes occur to the federal tax code, including:

• The estate tax exemption drops to $1.0 million per decedent.
• The estate tax rate increases (e.g., 55% above $3.0 million and 60% above $10 million).
• States which remain "coupled" to the federal estate tax will have their state death taxes restored. Thus, if you own property in one of these coupled states, you could have new exposure to a state estate tax.
• The fair market value step up in basis returns for assets passing from a decedent.
• The top income tax rates go up by at least 4.6%, capital gain tax rates go up by up to 5% and dividend tax rates go up by up to 24.6%.

Higher Taxes. No matter what happens to the estate tax, substantial tax increases are looming. A $12 trillion deficit is projected for the next decade. The Congressional Budget Office indicates that the social security trust fund will pay out more then it receives starting in 2011 or 2012. Taxes will have to increase across a broad range of Americans. Both the Washington Post and the New York Times have stated that the President will have to abandon his pledge to only increase taxes on taxpayers earning over $250,000. Given slow economic recovery and the fact that we are in a mid-term election year, the federal government will probably not increase taxes until sometime in 2011. While substantial tax increases are likely, we just don't know any details.

ROTH IRAs. In 2010, taxpayers can convert traditional IRAs to ROTH IRAs and can pay the income taxes due on such conversion in 2010 or equally in 2011 and 2012. There are significant benefits and traps for the unwary in making these decisions.

Effectively, unless Congress adopts new legislation, in 2010 the estate tax rules rotate 180 degrees from where they were in 2009, and then rotate 180 degrees again in 2011 – only the estate tax and income tax rules could be even worse than what we had in 2009. Uncertainty makes it difficult to plan, but waiting to see what happens next is not a good idea. The earlier you can implement flexible tax and estate planning to respond to these changes the better. "

Hybrid Philanthropy - The New Era of Charitable Giving

The line between for-profit and nonprofit entities is blurred by the "low-profit limited liability company", or L3C. 

This new structure, about a year old as of this month in Michigan, is an intriguing proposition.  Nonprofits, private foundations, government, pension funds, private investors all collaborating and investing funds in a limited liability company designed specifically for potentially profit-making projects that have a philanthropic purpose.  The "low-profit" name is misleading - the L3C venture can produce unlimited profit, but can't have profit as it's primary purpose.  The creators designed it for patient capital, hence the "low-profit" choice of words.

The L3C model is designed to appeal to private foundations ("PF")  - capital contributions qualify as Program Related Investments.

A Program Related Investment is counted as part of the 5% each PF is required to distribute each year.  It is also excluded from asset values that go into the computation of the annual 5% dollar amount.   A PRI has three statutory requirements:  alignment with PF mission; profit is not the primary purpose; and, no lobbying.  The three statutory requirements are included in the L3C formation documents, thereby providing assurance to PFs that their investment should qualify as a PRI without feeling the need to seek an expensive private letter ruling or legal opinion.

Along with the L3C, other examples of PRI are: (most common) loans to nonprofits that are in alignment with a PF's mission, loan guarantees to nonprofits that are in alignment with a PF's mission, and (much less common) direct investment in traditional for-profit entities that are in alignment with a PFs mission.

Contributions by private foundations could in theory absorb most of the risk of a project, thereby attracting private capital and pension dollars in higher tranches with higher required rates of return.

We love this idea - bringing collaboration, profit metrics and financing to philanthropic causes opens the door to real problem solving and real capital resources.

Contributions to an L3C are not deductible as charitable contributions.  Founders who are looking for investment dollars versus grants, and profit-sharing potential may choose the flexibility of the L3C over the rigidity of a 501(c)(3) for social purpose initiatives.

The following Michigan L3Cs have been formed since January 2010.  Our firm is presently working on a prototype document for mixed use development in areas like the Eastern Market.

administrative services (Divine Help Services, Unique Support Specialists); athletics (Liga del Futvol); environmental (Beyond Profit Venture Partners, EcoZoic, Tri-Green Development); education (Top Urban School Facilities, TEF Franklin, Signature Hope); technology (Ardent Cause, BroadMap, Cool School Technologies, SEEDR, V02 Funding); fundraising (The Giving App); disabled services (KI Medical Device Manufacturing); business ventures(Ingenuity US); job training (Ingenuity, New Center Career Center, Signature Hope); spiritualism (SBNR); community relations (EcoZoic, Peace Meals); promote philanthropy (Mission Throttle); collection and preservation (Michigan History Magazine); music programming and recording (Community Records); lending and financial counseling ( Southwest Lending Solutions).

A closer look at some of these organizations leads us to conclude they are private business people using the L3C vehicle as a nonprofit marketing "brand" versus a platform for attracting investment.  But, the branding aspect of the L3C is another one of its touted benefits - similar to the "B" Corporation "brand".

Obama's Estate Tax Related Proposals. Act Fast or Lose Out

The Obama Administration's Revenue Proposals


We do not yet have answers on the estate and gift tax system, (as of today, the estate tax is repealed for just 2010, and the gift tax applies at a reduced rate to gifts in excess of $1,000,000). 

The Obama administration made some revenue proposals for 2010 that were released by the Treasury Department in its "Greenbook." The Greenbook contained several proposals that are of interest in the estate planning arena:

Require Consistency in Value for Transfer and Income Tax Purposes

• This proposal would require that the income tax basis of property received from a decedent or donor must be equal to the estate tax value or the donor's basis.
• The executor or donor would be required to report the necessary information to both the recipient and to the Internal Revenue Service. This reporting requirement could apply to annual exclusion gifts and to estates for which no estate tax return is required.
• The proposal would be effective as of the date of enactment.

Modify Rules on Valuation Discounts

• The Greenbook proposal would significantly limit many valuation discounts that are used to leverage transfers when planning with family limited partnerships and family limited liability companies.
• The IRS has stipulated to discounts in the 35% range for family entities holding portfolio assets in recent Tax Court cases - these discounts could be lost in the future under the Greenbook proposal.
• The proposal would apply to lifetime transfers and transfers at death after the date of enactment.

Require Minimum 10-year Term for Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs)

• The Greenbook proposes to require at least a 10-year term for all GRATs. This would eliminate the use of short-term rolling GRATs.
• The proposal would apply to GRATs created after the date of enactment.

Because none of the revenue proposals have yet become law, particularly if you are considering wealth transfer planning with a family entity or short-term GRAT, it is advisable to proceed immediately.