Appraisers are Gatekeepers to Gift Tax Deadline —Reuters

Today Individual Federal Gift Law Exemption is $5.12M.  In Months it May Drop to $1M.  Result: Surging Demand for Appraisals.   

Lou Carlozo at Reuters reports that faced with the possibility of the lifetime gift tax exemption dropping precipitously next year and the estate tax rate rising, wealthy individuals are rushing to transfer their assets to family members. More:

It is no wonder that 73-year-old commercial real estate appraiser Jim Levy is busier now than he ever was – and that is saying a lot, considering he has been in the business for 50 years at Appraisers and Planners Inc of New York City, which his father started in 1933.

“It’s crazy right now,” says Levy. “And this is just the beginning.”

. . . . “We’re sort of in a perfect storm right now because the gift tax exemption is higher than it’s ever been, and the value of businesses are at an all-time low, which makes it a perfect time to gift them,” says Karen Goldberg, president of the Estate Planning Council of Manhattan and a principal at accounting firm EisnerAmper.

The surging demand for appraisals could surpass anything that even the most battle-hardened veterans are bracing for, says Jim Cody, director of estate and trust services at Harris myCFO in Palo Alto, California.

Tell Santa Not to Arrive Much Later than the December Holiday

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