Gifting Stock

The key to reducing estate taxes is to limit the amount of appreciation in your estate. We talked earlier about giving away assets today so that the future appreciation on those assets will be outside of your taxable estate. There may be no better gift than your company stock—this could be the most rapidly appreciating asset you own.

For example, assume your business is worth $500,000 today, but is likely to be worth $1 million in three years. By giving away the stock today, you will keep the future appreciation of $500,000 out of your taxable estate.

A flexible strategy for the business owner was reinstated in late 1990 when Congress retroactively repealed the estate freeze provisions that became law in 1987. Before 1987, business owners commonly recapitalized their businesses, retained preferred stock interests and gave some or all of the common stock to their beneficiaries. This way, they retained control of their companies and froze the value of their stock for estate tax purposes. All future appreciation affected only the common shares, not the owners’ preferred stock.

Congress saw the loophole and created Section 2036(c) in an attempt to prevent future estate freezes. The section had been under constant attack since its creation and was finally repealed retroactively in 1990. In its place, Congress passed legislation that once again permits estate freezes, but only if certain requirements are met.

Gifting family business stock can be a very effective estate tax saving strategy. But beware of some of the problems involved. The gift’s value determines both the gift and estate tax ramifications. The IRS may challenge the value you place on the gift and try to increase it substantially. Seek professional assistance before attempting to transfer portions of your business to family members.

A recent law change requires the IRS to make any challenges to a gift tax return within the normal three-year statute of limitations, even though no tax is payable with the return.