For gift and estate tax purposes, the much feared "fiscal
cliff" turned out to be more like a "fiscal curb" as
Congress has now enacted legislation largely leaving in place the
tax rules which have been in effect for the last two years.
For the first time in twelve years, we now have
"permanent" provisions applicable to estate tax, gift tax
and generation-skipping tax which can be summarized as follows:
- The rate for federal estate tax, gift tax and
generation-skipping tax purposes, which was 35% last year, has been
increased to 40%.
- The $5,000,000 exemption, subject to inflation adjustment,
which was $5,120,000 in 2012 will be approximately $5,250,000 in
2013 (or $10,500,000 for a husband and wife).
