If you are at least 70 ½ years old and you have a traditional IRA, you can donate up to $105,000 directly from your IRA account to charity. This direct transfer, called a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD), avoids having to recognize the assets transferred to the charity in your gross income on your tax return.

On June 6, 2024, in the case of Connelly v. United States, the United States Supreme Court determined that corporate-owned life insurance proceeds used to redeem a decedent’s shares in the corporation must be included when valuing those shares for federal estate tax purposes.

A decedent’s taxable estate includes the fair market value of shares

New York has an “estate tax cliff,” which can result in heirs paying New York estate tax at a rate exceeding 100%.

The current per-person NYS estate tax exemption is $6.94 million, which is the amount you can leave to your heirs at your death without paying NYS estate tax. If your taxable estate, however,

You may have heard of Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATS) lately, especially if you have been thinking about using your federal estate and gift tax exemption before the current higher exemption amount of $13.61 million is automatically reduced to about $7 million on January 1, 2026, assuming Congress takes no action. (See my column from last

The current combined federal estate and gift tax exemption amount of $13.61 million per person ($27.22 million per married couple) is scheduled to “sunset” automatically on January 1, 2026, and revert to $5 million indexed for inflation (guesstimated at $7 million), unless Congress takes action. This exemption amount applies to the total taxable gifts made

Many of us would like our children to inherit our home once we are gone. More than a few of us think it makes sense to give our home to our children while we are still living. That is not a good idea! Here’s why.

Loss of Step-Up in Basis

Gifting your home to someone

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill on Friday, November 20, 2023, that allows New York City cannabis businesses to deduct business expenses paid or incurred in carrying on such business for purposes of determining their City income tax liabilities. The measure expands on legislation the governor signed in 2022 that allowed state-level cannabis

Louis Vlahos’ article, “Planning for the Interest Charge on Installment Sales: Decanting a Grantor Trust?”, was published in the New York State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Law Section Journal. Rivkin Radler member Nicholas G. Moneta is the publication’s Editor-in-Chief.

The article discusses the concept that the special interest charge imposed on the deferred tax

In an effort to help prevent and combat money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, tax fraud, and other illicit activity, the United States Department of the Treasury just issued a final rule [RIN: 1506-AB49]. The rule requires certain businesses to file reports with FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) that identify two categories of individuals: the beneficial

The New Jersey Division of Taxation recently provided guidance[1] on registration and licensing requirements, Social Equity Excise Fees, and the Sales & Use tax applicable to companies operating in the cannabis industry.[2]

The following provides important takeaways from the Division’s publication.

Registration & Licensing

To operate a cannabis business in New Jersey a company must