Planned Giving Insights and Information

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 Doesn’t Signal Much Change for Donors

A bipartisan group of ten Senators announced agreement to the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” late Sunday, August 1, 2021, and the Senate has agreed to proceed to consider the proposed legislation. The bill includes new federal investments for hard infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, broadband internet, transit, and electric utilities. A Senate vote on the bill could take place "in a matter of days," according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The Senate’s summer recess is scheduled to start August 9.

Biden Administration Releases Details on Proposed Taxation of Split-Interest Trusts

On May 28, the Biden Administration released a general explanation of its revenue proposals for Fiscal Year 2022. The so-called “Green Book” provides more detail on these proposals than had been available previously. Of especial interest to gift planners, under the heading “Treat transfers of appreciated property by gift or on death as realization events,” pages 62-64 discuss the Administration’s proposed changes to the taxation of capital gain when assets are transferred during life and at death. I reviewed some of these proposed changes regarding outright gifts and bequests of appreciated assets in a previous blog post, but until now there was no detail on how transfers to split-interest gifts would be treated.

Proposed Changes to Capital Gains Tax Could Be a Big Boost to Giving

The American Families Plan proposed by the Biden Administration includes a long list of initiatives aimed at expanding government support of children and families. It would cover much of the cost of these initiatives through a series of tax changes that include a major overhaul in the tax treatment of capital gains. It is far from certain that these tax changes will become law, but it is worthwhile to examine how they might affect the behavior of your donors if they did.