How Treasury and the IRS Have Allowed High-Net-Worth Taxpayers to Exploit Stepped-Up Basis on Intergenerational Wealth Transfers, and How They Can Stop It: Answers to Question for the Record
7 Pages Posted: 24 Mar 2022
Date Written: January 17, 2022
Abstract
This document, prepared as a response to a Question for the Record from House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Oversight Chair Bill Pascrell, explains how previous actions by Treasury and the IRS have facilitated strategies that allow high-net-worth individuals and families to exploit stepped-up basis while also avoiding federal estate and gift taxes on intergenerational transfers of wealth. It also identifies specific steps that Treasury and the IRS can take on their own -- without any additional legislative action by Congress -- that would prevent high-net-worth taxpayers from continuing to exploit these strategies.
Keywords: stepped-up basis, intentionally defective grantor trusts, Treasury regulations, revenue rulings, private letter rulings
JEL Classification: K34
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation