Common Estate and Gift Tax Issues: Illiquidity, Pass-Through Entity Transfers, Beneficiary Designations, Donations

Avoiding common estate and gift tax issues is critical to existing estate plans. TOD (transfer on death) and POD (paid on death) designations on bank accounts can simplify the transfer of bank accounts to beneficiaries. These designations also take precedence over the will and must be carefully considered. Also troubling is the impact of beneficiary designations on the transfer of retirement accounts. Recent changes made by the SECURE Act 2.0 created new requirements for the distribution of inherited assets.

Business owners must adequately prepare for the transfer of pass-through entity interests. The type of income generated by the business could change from active to passive, for example, once ownership passes to an estate. Additionally, without pre-planning, a business' Subchapter S status could be jeopardized by the death of a shareholder.

Listen as our panel of experienced estate attorneys emphasizes the importance of planning to avoid problematic gift and estate tax issues.

1. Common estate and gift tax issues: introduction
2. Beneficiary designations
3. Inherited retirement accounts
4. Flow-through entity succession planning
5. Charitable deductions
6. Illiquidity
7. Other considerations

The panel will cover these and other critical issues:

• How to avoid termination of Subchapter S status after the death of a shareholder
• Planning for and identifying a potentially illiquid estate
• How beneficiary designations can facilitate or jeopardize an estate plan
• The requirements for deducting a charitable contribution made by an estate

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Identify steps to take to avoid frequently encountered estate and gift tax issues
• Determine criteria for deducting charitable contributions made by an estate
• Decide how SECURE 2.0 impacts the transfer of retirement assets
• Ascertain how to pre-plan for a potentially illiquid estate

• Field of Study: Taxes
• Level of Knowledge: Intermediate
• Advance Preparation: None
• Teaching Method: Seminar/Lecture
• Delivery Method: Group-Internet (via computer)
• Attendance Monitoring Method: Attendance is monitored electronically via a participant's PIN and through a series of attendance verification prompts displayed throughout the program
• Prerequisite: Three years+ business or public firm experience preparing complex tax forms and schedules, supervising other preparers or accountants. Specific knowledge and understanding of estate, gift and trust taxation including various trusts types, the unified credit, and portability.

Strafford Publications, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE Credits. Complaints regarding registered sponsons may be submitted to NASBA through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.

IRS Approved Provider

Strafford is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).