NWRA joined other associations in a letter to House and Senate tax-writing committees, calling on Congress to oppose proposed changes to the grantor trust and valuation rules in H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act. The changes related to the taxation of grantor trusts would eliminate the usefulness of the grantor trust for normal and legitimate business (non-tax) purposes, such as facilitating the transfer of business ownership between generations and protecting assets from liability or creditor claims of a trust beneficiary.
“These new rules would unfairly punish taxpayers who relied on decades-old laws and Internal Revenue Service guidance to establish estate plans to transfer family businesses to future generations, threatening the viability of thousands of family businesses across the country,” said NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith. “We strongly believe that the proposed changes to the grantor trust and valuation rules would produce unfair and unreasonable results, and we urge Congress to reject them.”
The changes broadly apply to all interests in any entity holding “passive assets,” whether or not the interest owner can actually access a proportionate share of those assets, whether or not the amount paid by the interest owner to acquire the interest was significantly less than a proportionate share of the assets of the entity and whether or not the transferor or transferee has any control over the entity. As such, the changes unfairly impose transfer taxes on “phantom assets” and “phantom value” that an owner of the interest often has no ability to access. If enacted as drafted, family farms, ranches and operating businesses across the country would be harmed.