The new tax bill known as “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017” includes significant changes to the federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax laws, which became effective January 1, 2018.  While there has been no change to the annual exclusion gift tax law it is scheduled to increase from $14,000 to $15,000 in 2018 (per the inflation adjustment).    

The tax bill, passed by the House and Senate, did not eliminate the death tax but it does temporarily double the exemption for estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes from $5.6 million (2018) to a new $11.2 million per individual, good for tax years 2018 through 2025 (indexed for inflation).  While we will not know for certain until we hear from the IRS, this likely means that the exemption amount for 2018 will be $11,180,000 per person (or $22,360,000 per married couple).   The new tax law, however, is scheduled to sunset in 2026 which means that the exemption amount is scheduled to revert back to the exemption amount as it existed prior to the passage of Trump's tax bill.

You should consider making making an appointment to discuss how these changes may effect your current planning.