Wealth Transfer Tax Planning after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

78 Pages Posted: 26 Mar 2020 Last revised: 1 Jun 2021

See all articles by John A. Miller

John A. Miller

University of Idaho College of Law

Jeffrey A. Maine

University of Maine School of Law

Date Written: March 15, 2021

Abstract

On December 17, 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Among its many impacts, the TCJA increased the inflation adjusted estate tax basic exclusion amount to $10,000,000 on a temporary basis. This has dramatic implications for many existing and future estate plans, including a major crossover impact on income tax planning. In this article we explain the operation of the federal wealth transfer taxes (the estate tax, the gift tax and the generation skipping transfer tax) in the wake of the TCJA and of the newly issued regulations interpreting the TCJA changes. We also explain the basic tax planning techniques for wealth transmission. The overall design of this article is to bring the reader into the current wealth transfer tax planning picture while providing references to more detailed treatments of particular topics within this broad field.

Keywords: estate tax, gift tax, tax planning, estate planning

JEL Classification: k34,

Suggested Citation

Miller, John A. and Maine, Jeffrey A., Wealth Transfer Tax Planning after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (March 15, 2021). 2021 Brigham Young University Law Review 1411-1487, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3545645

John A. Miller (Contact Author)

University of Idaho College of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 442321
Moscow, ID 83844-2321
United States
208-885-2257 (Phone)

Jeffrey A. Maine

University of Maine School of Law ( email )

300 Fore St
Portland, ME 04101
United States

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