Category: Taxation-Individuals

CBM has developed this post to inform clients and friends of the firm about changes to the estate and gift tax exemption made by the massive Tax Cuts and Jobs Act effective beginning in 2018. It will result in significantly fewer estates being subject to the 40% tax, and larger estates owing less tax. Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the first $5 million (as adjusted for inflation in years after 2011) of transferred property was exempt from estate… Read more ›

Today, President Trump signed the reconciled tax reform bill–commonly called the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (TCJA)–which represents the most sweeping federal tax legislation in more than three decades. While many of the new law’s provisions affect businesses, it also includes significant changes for individual taxpayers, most of which take effect for 2018 and expire after 2025. Here are some of the most notable changes. Tax brackets The TCJA maintains seven income tax brackets but temporarily adjusts the tax rates… Read more ›

November 9 was a busy day in Washington for lawmakers in their race to hammer out a tax reform package. The House Ways and Means Committee made amendments to, and approved, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. And the Senate Finance Committee released “policy highlights” for its proposed version of a tax plan. Many of the House and Senate provisions are similar. For example, both plans would repeal the alternative minimum tax and retain the charitable contribution deduction. However, there… Read more ›

  Update: On November 16, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by a vote of 227 to 205. What are tax reform’s next few steps? On November 17, the Senate Finance Committee approved its own tax reform bill, and the full Senate is expected to weigh in on the bill after the Thanksgiving holiday. If the Senate passes its bill, the House and Senate will work to reconcile their two bills into a final… Read more ›

Earlier this week, U.S. Senate Republicans declined to vote on the Graham-Cassidy health care bill because there weren’t enough votes to pass it. Then, President Trump and Republican congressional leaders turned their attention to tax reform by releasing an outline of their long-awaited tax reform plan. The nine-page “Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code” is intended to serve as a template for the congressional committees to draft legislation to cut tax rates, simplify the tax code and provide… Read more ›