2011 Year-End Tax Planning

Author: Judson M. Stein, Esq. and Jodi C. Lipka, Esq. View the article (pdf) Year-end tax planning is especially challenging this year because of uncertainty over whether Congress will enact sweeping tax reform that could have a major impact in 2012 and beyond. Even if there is no major tax legislation in the immediate future, next year Congress will still have to grapple with a host of difficult issues, such as whether to once again "patch" the alternative minimum tax (e.g., to avoid a drastic drop in post-2011 exemption amounts), what to do about the post-2012 expiration of the Bush-era income tax cuts (including the current rate schedules and low tax rates for long-term capital gains and qualified dividends), and the expiration of favorable estate and gift rules for estates of decedents dying, gifts made, or generation-skipping transfers made after December 21, 2012.