On December 26, 2024, Kevin Ghassomian was featured in ThinkAdvisor regarding the future of the estate tax provisions and other time-limited tax provisions in the 2017 tax overhaul. The following is an excerpt:
THINKADVISOR: How does what you see now compare with what you were expecting in October?
KEVIN GHASSOMIAN: Before the election, few political commentators on either side of the aisle predicted a Trump sweep of the tossup states and the ensuing "Red Wave" in both houses of Congress.
Even though it's now more likely that the tax provisions under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will be extended, it's certainly not guaranteed, and it may be late in 2025 or even early 2026, before we know for sure.
On the estate tax front, Trump also suggested that he would support making the estate tax changes under the [legislation] permanent, which would effectively end the gifting frenzy in the lead-up to a future legislative sunset.
Regardless, until Congress acts, effective as of midnight on Dec. 31, 2025, the federal estate and gift tax exemption amount will decrease from approximately $14 million per taxpayer (or $28 million per married couple) to approximately $7 million per taxpayer (or $14 million per married couple).
That reduction represents about $14 million of assets that, until Dec. 31, 2025, can be gifted free of federal estate and gift tax.
Consequently, most experienced estate planners haven't missed a beat and continue to encourage their clients to use the full exemption amount sooner rather than later, and well before the end of 2025.
Click here to access the article.