A Big News Day: Section 7520 Rate Stays Put, 10 Year GRAT Legislation, Gov. Beshear Signs HB 188!

KYEstates readers – this was a big day in the world of T&E.  Perhaps not epochal, but at least big.

1) Good news for procrastinators: although interest rates may be headed up, for April, AFRs are virtually unchanged from March levels, and the section 7520 rate has not budged.  For details, see Rev. Rul. 2010-11 here.

2) Several sources, including Greg Herman-Giddens at North Carolina Estate Planning Blog, broke the news that things other than health care can still happen in Washington.

(Note to Congress: the T&E Community has tunnel vision. Normal people would be distracted. But we’re not normal! You can make all the noise and fuss about health care that you want. We’re going to ignore every single bit of that and stay laser-focused on anything you do with transfer taxes. Maybe we’ll notice income taxes, too, at least if they affect high-bracket payers. But even on the first day of March Madness, even if Murray State does upset Vandy and wrecks our brackets, if you do something affecting Subtitle B, We Will Know. And we’ll broadcast it quickly among all, say, 23 people nationwide who care. Daniel Webster might have put it this way: “It is, sir, as I have said, a niche practice area, and yet there are those who love it.”)

Specifically, the House Ways and Means Committee has approved H.R. 4849 (the “Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act of 2010”) which contains a provision instituting a 10 year minimum term for GRATs. Loyal KYEstates readers won’t be surprised by this legislative move, which was part of the FY 2010 and FY 2011 Green Books, as we reported here. The legislation would be effective upon enactment. Even though the section 7520 rate isn’t moving in April, advisors and clients considering GRATs are best advised to move now.

3) Today, at home in our fair Commonwealth, Governor Beshear signed HB 188 into law. For confirmation of this happy news, view the bill’s status report here. This is a good day for the T&E bar in Kentucky and for our clients, whom KYEstates believes will be well served by this legislation. The bill passed through the Legislature with strong bipartisan support, and a big thank-you is due to members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and to Rep. Tom Kerr, who sponsored the legislation. Thanks also to Governor Beshear’s staff for their careful and positive evaluation of the bill, and to Governor Beshear for signing it. KYEstates site traffic on our HB188 coverage (see here, here, and here) has been heavy, and we fielded calls about the bill from readers. KYEstates is pleased to have been part of the conversation – thank you, readers!

And, for an off-topic but truly witty homage to Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” go here.