Blue State Tax Hikes Lurking in Trump's Tax Cuts

Both the proposed and final Section 199A regulations upset some possible planning strategies by adding a new provision that requires aggregation of two or more trusts in certain circumstances. The aggregation rules apply in the Section 199A context and beyond—meaning that they are also relevant for those who had planned to use multiple non-grantor trusts to avoid the SALT cap.

Aggregation is now required if the trusts have substantially the same grantor or grantors, and substantially the same beneficiary or beneficiaries, if the principal purpose of forming the trust or contributing additional assets to the trust is the avoidance of income tax. This means that for income tax planning purposes, trusts can continue to add value for clients who have multiple natural beneficiaries, each of whom can be named beneficiary of a different trust, or for clients who can justifiably point to a significant non-tax reason for the trust formation.

For some clients, closely examining state tax law provisions can help reduce the SALT cap impact between now and 2026. For example, New York law provides an exclusion ($20,000 for those 59 1/2 and older, and $40,000 for married couples) from federal income for qualified pension and annuity income when residents calculate their New York taxable income.  This means that these amounts will not be subject to state-level taxes.

Clients who have the choice between withdrawing funds from these types of accounts or other taxable accounts may benefit from choosing to use excluded funds during the years the SALT cap is in effect in order to reduce state and local taxes that may no longer be deductible at the federal level.

While most clients would not consider moving to avoid higher federal income taxes, some clients have considered relocating their "tax home" to a low or no-tax state—a strategy that may be particularly valuable for clients who are nearing retirement and have already acquired a "retirement" home in a low tax state, such as Florida.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that, under tax reform, many taxpayers actually will face a higher tax burden from now until 2026, when most of the individual tax reform provisions—including the SALT cap—are set to expire absent extension by Congress. Highly motivated clients can plan to reduce the sting, but also need to be advised that certain planning techniques are complex and can create cost of their own.

• Please read previous coverage of planning for expanded tax credit post-tax reform in Advisor's Journal.
• For in-depth analysis of pre-reform rules governing income tax deductions, see Advisor's Main Library.
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