What’s a GRAT?
Summarized merely, GRATs enable the grantor to freeze the worth of their property whereas transferring any future appreciation to the beneficiaries. Amongst property planning professionals, GRATs are seen as a strong technique for purchasers who need to keep away from property taxes and move these belongings to the following technology of youngsters, grandchildren or others.
Typically, GRATs run for a hard and fast time period after which the belongings are transferred to the beneficiaries. GRATs additionally enable the grantor to take annuity revenue stream from the belief in the course of the time period of the belief, therefore the identify.
What’s within the Getting Rid of Abusive Trusts Act?
The invoice would add varied extra necessities for the creation and operation of a GRAT, all meant to impose prices on using GRATs in order that they’re much less seemingly for use totally for tax avoidance functions.
The invoice provides the requirement, for instance, {that a} GRAT should have a minimal time period of 15 years and a most time period of the life expectancy of the annuitant plus 10 years. Second, the invoice prohibits any lower within the annuity in the course of the GRAT time period, and it provides the requirement that the rest curiosity in a GRAT on the time of switch should have a minimal worth for present tax functions.
Different key provisions dictate that any transfers of property between a belief and the deemed proprietor of the belief will likely be handled as a sale or change for revenue tax functions. This transformation is meant to deal with prevalent tax planning strategies the place a taxpayer’s appreciating belongings will be transferred out and in of a GRAT with out incurring revenue tax or capital beneficial properties tax, in accordance with Wyden and King.
Crucially, the invoice additional stipulates that revenue tax paid on the GRAT’s revenue is to be designated as a present for the needs of the present tax — except the proprietor is reimbursed from the GRAT throughout the identical calendar 12 months. As proposed, the present quantity can’t be decreased via using deductions such because the charitable deduction, marital deduction, or deductions for presents of tuition or medical care.
This transformation, in accordance with the senators, is meant to deal with prevalent tax planning strategies the place a grantor of a GRAT makes use of the belief to scale back the worth of their property, consequently reducing their property tax burden whereas avoiding extra revenue or present tax.
Pictured: Sen. Ron Wyden