Senator Sanders And Representative Gomez Try Again

Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT
VT
) ; introduced S.1178, 118th Cong., 1st Sess. (April 18, 2023) and Representative Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) introduced H.R. 2676, 118th Cong., 1st Sess. (April 18, 2023), identical bills entitled “For the 99.5 Percent Act,”.

These proposed changes include:

• Raising the estate, gift, and GST tax rates and lowering the basic exclusion amount to $3.5 million;
• Increasing from $750,000 to $3 million the maximum amount that an estate can be reduced by special-use valuation under Code Sec. 2032A for farm and closely held business real estate;
• Increasing from $500,000 to $2 million the maximum estate tax deduction for conservation easements and permitting a greater reduction in the gross estate;
• Eliminating basis step-up for property in a grantor trust at the grantor’s death;
• Eliminating valuation discounts on interests in a family-controlled entity and nonbusiness assets in any closely-held business interest;
• Significantly tightening the rules for grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs); Including the assets of many grantor trusts in the grantor’s gross estate for estate tax purposes;
• Eliminating the GST tax protection afforded by the GST exemption with respect to great-grandchildren and more remote descendants; and
• Limiting the total gift tax annual exclusion for gifts in trust and certain other transfers to two times the regular annual exclusion.

This proposal may not have any greater chance of success than when it was first proposed back in 2021, which I discussed previously here . Even so, it is worth reviewing what you can do to lock in the more favorable gift and estate tax treatment today just in case.