Tax Planning

Totally committed to client service

Our firm believes that tax law is at the heart of business law and is critical to many aspects of estate and business planning. We consider the tax implications in every plan we develop for our clients.

Understanding tax consequences

Failing to understand the tax ramifications of a particular transaction or plan usually has adverse consequences. For example, consider a gift of highly appreciated property to a child. This removes the property and its income tax liability upon its sale from the donor’s estate. However, if that gift is instead deferred until the donor’s death, all the prior appreciation escapes income taxation because of the “step-up” in the tax basis of most assets that occurs upon the owner’s death. Therefore, last minute gifts to individuals should be avoided.

On the other hand, for well-to-do clients concerned about minimizing transfer taxes, lifetime gifts in trust such as grantor retained annuity trusts or sales to "intentionally defective" grantor trusts" can save enormous amounts of gift and estate taxes. These are merely two of innumerable examples.

Our many years of professional experience in tax planning, combined with our founder’s advanced degree in Tax Law and on-going studies in taxation, enable us to help our clients minimize their income, employment, and transfer taxes consistent with their other planning objectives.