Resource Search

With an array of charitable giving options, it's important to understand how each gift could affect your annual deductions. Here's a quick guide to tax deductions, out-of-pocket deductions, and required substantiation. For the individuals and families looking to go beyond the standard donation, there are a few alternate options with their own tax considerations.

A best-in-class family office tax function goes beyond preparing timely tax returns to drive tax strategy and reduce the overall income, gift, and estate tax burden across generations. Given the role taxes have on most families, it’s imperative for the family office to ensure it has the proper infrastructure and resources to understand, plan, and strategize from both the tax planning and compliance standpoint. Best practices are provided to help strengthen your family office’s tax capabilities.

2022 has been an eventful year with spiking inflation, rising interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty, and unnerving market volatility. Yet amidst these uncontrollable events and uncertainty going into 2023, there are still some valuable tax planning considerations and opportunities within your control.

Non-U.S. families establishing succession planning structures rarely think about the U.S. generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. Nevertheless, when a foreign trust becomes a U.S. domestic trust so that distributions can be made in a tax-efficient manner to the settlor’s U.S. grandchildren and more remote descendants, U.S. trustees or tax return preparers may raise questions about whether those distributions are subject to the GST tax. Advisers to these families should become familiar with the application of the GST tax rules in order to bring clarity to the situation.

A non-U.S. company's classification for U.S. tax purposes is important for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) compliance and U.S. withholding tax reasons. Advisors to families with succession planning structures that include holding, operating, and other companies should determine the U.S. tax classification for each company in the structure and resulting compliance and tax implications.

Through the evolution of the family journey, it’s clear that family structures have become more complex and estate planning needs to shift to a new model that focuses on multiple aspects of wealth.

Even when there is a financial gift to sufficiently endow an art collection today, there is no certainty that the endowment will be able to fund the charity indefinitely into the future. When there is no charity willing to preserve the collection, the artist or collector should consider using a private foundation. Especially now as the future of museums is moving away from the brick-and-mortar and toward a virtual institution.

The economy is still aimlessly lurching from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and those fits may spill over into tax-filing season. It’s likely that a disproportionate number of filers will have some income and capital gains they weren’t expecting as the result of mutual fund distributions last year. Through an effective tax-managed investment strategy, even a tumultuous year like 2020 can produce benefits. If the investor structures realized losses to manage tax burden, even a difficult year can help you meet your investment goals.

The possibility of dramatic tax changes on lifetime gifts and after an individual’s death has increased with introduction of the For the 99.5 Percent Act and the Sensible Taxation and Equity Promotion Act in the U.S. While it remains early in the legislative process, the chances of significant changes are growing and the window for action is closing. For those individuals and families of wealth who said they would deal with these issues “later,” the time is now to do proactive tax and estate planning.

With the IRS increasing their funding and enforcement, upper income taxpayers should expect the IRS audit coverage to increase dramatically on them. It’s important to prepare for the tax changes that are coming—and coming quickly. Along with having a team of professionals on your side, there are steps you can take to protect yourself. Now is the time to review and perhaps recalibrate your risk tolerance for tax strategies.To learn more about the coming changes, listen to the podcast recording here with Waller’s Leigh Griffith.