Biden wants to dismantle two weapons the richest 0.1% use to avoid taxes
An unpleasant surprise for wealthy Americans was lurking halfway through a 114-page document released by the U.S. Treasury late last month.
Technical provisions in the proposal — not mentioned when President Joe Biden presented his plans to raise taxes on the rich in April — could disrupt or dismantle some of the most popular ways super wealthy people have legally avoided taxes for decades.
One target is dynasty trusts, vehicles that wealthy families can use to benefit multiple generations of descendants. Another is an even more common tool among the top 0.1% — trusts that can move millions, and sometimes billions, of dollars to heirs tax-free.
“This is the stuff that’s really going to make a difference,” said Joe Maier, director of wealth strategy at Johnson Financial Group. “It’s going to make a difference in the anxiety that wealthy people and their advisers have, and would really make a difference in the revenue the government collects.”
Biden’s so-called “Green Book,” the Treasury document laying out these details, specifically takes aim at dynasty trusts — vehicles that are able to exist for generations without incurring gift, estate, or generation-skipping transfer taxes. The proposal would force trusts to pay capital gains tax on appreciated assets every 90 years, but it’s drafted in a way that would impose taxes as early as Dec. 31, 2030. [Continue reading…]