Gifts and Gift Giving
Found 28 Articles.
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Another Way Congress Is Making It Harder for Retirees
Congress is making it more and more difficult to deduct charitable contributions. So it’s good to know the latest rules… so the IRS won’t be able to deny tax breaks for your charitable donations. The increase in the standard deduction – in the 2017 tax law – means you have to give more to receive […]
Key Changes in Estate Tax, Bypass Trusts and Tax Free Gifts
There are four basic strategies for reducing estate taxes: Reducing assets from the gross estate Removing future appreciation from the gross estate Increasing deductions, and Buying life insurance Within those four strategies are many options. Not all will be appropriate for you. But there are quite a few strategies – and it’s always good to […]
How to Maximize the Tax Benefits of Estate Planning Gifts
You need to plan on how to minimize taxes on lifetime gifts, even when the federal estate and gift tax isn’t a factor. Because of the $11.6 million lifetime federal and gift tax exemption, most people don’t have to worry about owing gift taxes on their lifetime giving. Most people also don’t need to make […]
Two Reasons to Reconsider Estate Planning Gifts
Two factors make this an especially important year to carefully reconsider the role of gifts in your estate plan. Many of you will find you should make more gifts than initially planned. One factor is the calendar. The cur-rent estate and gift tax benefits might not be with us for long. This is a presidential […]
Charitable Gifts: Maximizing the Power of Donor-Advised Funds
Donor-advised funds steadily increased in popularity over the years, but their use soared after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Their popularity is likely to continue increasing. Also known as a charitable gift fund, the donor-advised fund (DAF) took off after the early 1990s. Fidelity Charitable is believed to have set up the […]
This is the Best Time of the Year for Giving
The start of the year is the best time forestate plan-motivated gifts. Even if you made gifts late in 2018, consider making your 2019 gifts soon. Estate tax reduction used to be the major incentive for annual giving to family members. Now, only the very wealthy need to make gifts to reduce estate and gift […]
Avoid the Gift Tax Return Trap
You might need to file a gift tax return,even if you won’t owe gift or estate taxes.The IRS can impose penalties for not filing a gift tax return, even when no tax was due. The IRS began clamping down on unfiled gift tax returns a few years ago, because many people don’t know the gift […]
6 Key Issues about Gifts to Children and Grandchildren
One of the questions I receive most frequently from Retirement Watch subscribers is how to make estate planning gifts. Let’s take a look at the issues that recur among many readers. Gifts to family members are one of the staples of estate planning. But the tax law has changed, and that’s altered the role of […]
