Well, not quite yet. But it's not too soon to start thinking
about gifts, particularly gifts which use your lifetime exemption.
That is, the amount that you can gift during your lifetime without
incurring a federal gift tax, or the amount that can pass at your
death without incurring federal estate tax.
Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the lifetime
exemption increased and in 2020 it is $11,580,000. The exemption
adjusts annually for inflation, and in 2026 is scheduled to revert
to its pre-TCJA level, roughly one-half of what it is now.
So what is the rush? While we leave the predictions to the
political analysts, the potential for change exists and therefore
you should consider making lifetime gifts before the end of 2020 to
take advantage of your exemption.
