Tax Warrior Chronicles

By: Waishan Lee, CPA

Among the safest and most tax-efficient ways to transfer assets is by using a trust. A properly drafted trust document is specifically designed to be both for the benefit of a third-party person or entity and protects the property that was transferred to the trust. But, do you know what exactly a trust is and how you can use a trust to benefit your loved ones, charities and even yourself? Today, we’ll provided a high-level overview of these incredibly useful vehicles.

In these challenging and uncertain times, planning for generational wealth transfer is more important than ever.  We've updated this piece from 2018 to, again, help families discuss wealth among themselves and how it will successfully pass from one generation to the next. 

The reports differ from $30 trillion to perhaps only $9 trillion, but nearly all experts agree the greatest wealth transfer in history will happen in the next 25 years with a significant transfer of wealth happening in the next 10. Is your family prepared?

By: Rachel Kieser, CPA, MT

The Tax Warriors® at Drucker & Scaccetti pride themselves both on optimally servicing clients and on establishing themselves as experts within the tax industry, regularly publishing and speaking on an assortment of tax topics.  As one example, Tax Warrior Patrick McCormick, JD, LLM, was sought out to publish a portion of a forthcoming Lexis Nexis treatise on pre-immigration planning for nonresident aliens.  This treatise will run in full in 2019; however, a portion of Patrick’s chapter is included below.   

By: Nastassja Markham Coletta, JD, LLM

The new tax law provides opportunities for individuals to pass considerably more wealth on to their loved ones. Beginning in 2018, the federal exemption for gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes is doubled from $5 million to $10 million (adjusted for inflation). For 2018, the inflation-adjusted exemption amount is expected to be $11.18 million. This means, on the federal level, a married couple can potentially leave over $22 million tax-free to their heirs. But, there is a catch.

Intro by: Jane Scaccetti, CPA, MT, PFS

Blog by: Ashvini Chopra

We asked Ashvini Chopra to share his article Control of the Dead Hand since his experience was like many family dynamics we witnessed over the years. In this short case study, Mr. Chopra tells the story of his client who struggled to decide about the ownership of his assets after his death. I, too, have a short case study to share.

By: Eric R. Elmore

Recently, season seven of the popular HBO series Game of Thrones premiered. The much-anticipated return of the show is the subject of many Monday-morning water cooler conversations, including at Drucker & Scaccetti. Tax Warrior banter, however, often includes questions around taxation. Since being curious is one of our core values, we did some research on how some real royal families are taxed. What we found is interesting.  Today’s post covers four European dynasties and how their taxation is administered.

By: Rachel Kieser, CPA, MT and Jane Scaccetti, CPA, MT

In Part I of this two-part blog series, we discussed what parents should tell their children about their wealth transfer plans.  On the flip side, we will now address how children can get their parents to talk about it.

By: Rachel Kieser, CPA, MT and Jane Scaccetti, CPA, MT

When you hear “The Talk,” you may not think the talk is about money.  However, many parents in high-net worth families find it difficult to discuss their wealth with their children -  particularly the amount of their wealth, their responsibilities for this wealth, and how it will be distributed once they pass on.  And they certainly don’t know the best age to reveal the “number” to their children, or if they should even tell them the value of their wealth at all.