Projected estate tax exemption and annual gift tax exclusion for 2018

The Consumer Price Index was released by the Labor Department in August 2017. For most, the release of the Consumer Price Index goes unnoticed. However, this allows the experts to predict the 2018 estate tax exemption and gift tax exclusion amounts.

According to Bloomberg BNA, the amount you can leave to heirs without facing federal estate tax is projected to increase from $5.49 million to $5.6 million. As a result, in 2018, a couple who are US citizens will be able to collectively transfer $11.2 million without incurring a federal estate tax.

The annual gift tax exclusion amount is projected to increase for the first time since 2013 from $14,000 for individual recipient to$15,000 per individual recipient for 2018.

These are not official numbers– the Internal Revenue Service typically announces the official inflation adjustment by the end of October.

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