Latest news with #taxexemptions
Forbes
05-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
One Big Beautiful Bill: Family Offices No Longer Need To Fear Death & Taxes
While markets fixate on the latest Federal Reserve signals and artificial intelligence earnings, the most consequential legislation for ultra-high-net-worth families in decades has quietly become reality. The "One Big Beautiful Bill," formally the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, represents nothing short of a seismic shift in how America's wealthiest families will build, preserve and transfer fortunes across generations. The Death Tax Gets Defanged The numbers speak for themselves. Starting January 1, 2026, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions permanently jump to $15 million per person, double the previous threshold and a complete reversal of the sunset provisions that threatened to slash exemptions back to roughly $6 million. For family offices managing multi-generational wealth, this isn't merely tax relief, it is a fundamental restructuring of the wealth transfer landscape. Under the previous framework, families faced a ticking clock as Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions prepared to expire. Now, with permanent exemptions locked in, strategic planning can extend decades into the future without legislative uncertainty. The shift puts American estate tax policy closer to European models, where many countries have eliminated or dramatically reduced inheritance taxes. More critically, it removes the forced liquidation pressure that has historically fractured family enterprises and agricultural operations. Capital Gains: Stability Reigns Surprisingly, the legislation leaves capital gains rates untouched. There are no modifications to carried interest treatment, corporate tax rates or stock buyback excise taxes. This stability allows family offices to maintain existing investment strategies without fear of unexpected capital gains increases. However, one enhancement stands out: Qualified Opportunity Fund investments now receive tax-free treatment on gains held between 10 and 30 years. This extended window dramatically improves the risk-adjusted returns for impact investing in designated zones, a particularly attractive option for family offices balancing financial returns with social impact mandates. Agricultural Assets: The New Safe Haven For family offices with substantial agricultural holdings such as farms, ranches and forestry operations, the legislation creates unprecedented advantages. The Section 199A Qualified Business Income Deduction expands from 20% to 23% and becomes permanent. Consider the impact: Over 850,000 farms and ranches currently claim this deduction, with usage jumping to 70% among operations where the principal operator is primarily engaged in farming or ranching. The enhanced deduction allows agricultural operators to shield nearly a quarter of their business income from taxation while the expanded phase-in thresholds provide additional flexibility. Single filers now receive full benefits up to $75,000 (from $50,000), while joint filers get protection up to $175,000 (from $100,000). The Land Preservation Play The $15 million estate tax exemption transforms agricultural succession planning. Farmland and ranch properties, typically large and illiquid assets, have historically forced family sales to cover estate tax obligations. The new exemption levels allow families to transfer these operations intact while preserving multi-generational legacies. Additionally, the legislation injects $56.6 billion into farm safety net programs through 2031, enhancing crop insurance and conservation programs. For family offices, this reduces operational risk while creating additional income diversification through conservation initiatives. Business Investment Gets Turbocharged Unlimited bonus depreciation remains intact, allowing immediate expensing of qualifying equipment and improvements. Combined with expanded business interest deductions and modified excess business loss limitations, family offices can accelerate reinvestment without tax penalties. These provisions particularly benefit agricultural operations, where equipment purchases and land improvements represent major capital expenditures. The ability to immediately expense these investments improves cash flow and enables more aggressive growth strategies. WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 03: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) holds up the final vote tally ... More after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol on July 03, 2025 in Washington, DC. The House passed the sweeping tax and spending bill after winning over fiscal hawks and moderate Republicans. The bill makes permanent President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts, increase spending on defense and immigration enforcement and temporarily cut taxes on tips, while at the same time cutting funding for Medicaid, food assistance for the poor, clean energy and raises the nation's debit limit by $5 trillion. (Photo by) Strategic Implications The legislation eliminates the uncertainty that has plagued family office planning since 2017. Temporary provisions under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act left many families in holding patterns, hesitant to make long-term commitments amid regulatory uncertainty. Now, permanent rules enable confident multi-generational planning. Family offices can optimize estate structures, accelerate impact investing through enhanced opportunity zones, and pursue agricultural diversification with unprecedented tax advantages. The Bottom Line The One Big Beautiful Bill represents more than tax policy, it is a decisive signal that America's approach to family wealth has fundamentally shifted. By permanently raising exemptions and enhancing business investment incentives, the legislation arms family offices with tools to build and transfer wealth previously unimaginable. For family offices tasked with preserving legacies across generations, the message is clear: the era of fearing death and taxes has ended. The focus can now shift to what families do best: nurture generational prosperity.
Free Malaysia Today
28-06-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Cut SST to 4% and postpone new tax to January, says Chinese chamber
The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia said rising costs, which have been felt in 2025, are expected to persist next year. KUALA LUMPUR : A business chamber has urged the government to cut the sales and service tax to 4%, provide higher thresholds and expanded exemptions, and postpone implementation of the expanded tax to January to allow businesses more time to prepare. The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia said in a statement that adequate preparation was crucial to ensure better compliance and smooth implementation, Bernama reported. The chamber called for: a lower tax rate of 4% in the first two years (2026–2027) to ease the burden on businesses and consumers; a higher registration threshold, from RM2 million to RM3 million, for service tax on leasing, rental and construction services; a higher tax exemption threshold, of RM2 million in annual sales instead of RM1 million announced on Thursday, for small and medium-sized enterprises. 'We also propose a longer exemption period of 36 months for non-reviewable and reviewable contracts, to cover all project types due to the nature of the projects and their cycles,' the chamber said. The expanded SST applies to additional services (wellness centres, financial, and healthcare) and three new services (rental or leasing, construction works, and education), and is due to begin on July 1. The chamber said in a statement that it 'cautiously welcomed' the government's review of the expanded SST announced on Thursday. However, the chamber said there were concerns over multiple cost increases coinciding with a challenging global and domestic economic environment, exacerbated by the uncertainty surrounding US trade tariff policies and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. 'The effects of rising costs, which have been felt in 2025, are expected to persist or influence the business and economic landscape in 2026,' it added.
Reuters
16-06-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Turkey's ruling party proposes changes to tax applications for some vehicles in draft bill
ISTANBUL, June 16 (Reuters) - Turkey's ruling AK Party on Monday submitted a bill to parliament aiming to limit some tax exemptions and make changes to special consumption tax applications for certain vehicles, a draft of the law showed. The bill proposes broadening President Tayyip Erdogan's authority to determine and change special consumption tax levels for motor vehicles according to engine size, range and battery capacity. The proposed readjustments to the special consumption tax thresholds will not change the market prices of motor vehicles, the draft said.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Americans are divided over religious freedom. The Supreme Court? Not as much
Thursday was a surprising day at the Supreme Court, and a religion case was part of the action. The justices released six unanimous or near-unanimous decisions, including in a closely watched battle over the scope of faith-based tax breaks. In that religion case, the full court agreed that Wisconsin officials were unlawfully privileging certain religious nonprofits over others by basing access to religious exemptions on how they expressed their beliefs. Organizations that served only members of their own religion or that openly evangelized were typically eligible for the tax break, while organizations that served all comers with no strings attached often were deemed not religious enough to qualify. 'It is fundamental to our constitutional order that the government maintain 'neutrality between religion and religion.' There may be hard calls to make in policing that rule, but this is not one,' Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the Supreme Court's opinion, which reversed a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling against a group of Catholic nonprofits. The decision is significant, since it could lead to changes to religious exemptions nationwide. But the fact that it was unanimous isn't as surprising as it may, at first, have appeared. If there's a case to be made that the Supreme Court's ruling was unexpected, it centers on the role religious freedom advocates played in the battle. Faith-related groups did not speak with one voice on how the justices should interpret the First Amendment. They put together competing legal briefs and press releases. More liberal organizations and individuals supported Wisconsin's narrow religious exemption, arguing that an overly broad tax break would harm workers, including people of faith. More conservative groups, on the other hand, said religious freedom law requires broad exemptions, which enable faith-based organizations to operate according to their beliefs. While these arguments were specific to the Supreme Court case on Catholic nonprofits, they should be familiar to anyone who follows faith-related policy debates. Religious groups and faith-related advocacy organizations no longer agree on what religious freedom means — nor on whether or not conservative Christians, in particular, are demanding too many concessions in the public square. Those disagreements help explain why different religious freedom advocates held very different views on President Donald Trump and Kamala Harris during last year's election, as the Deseret News previously reported, and why some faith groups support a push to limit the application of a landmark religious freedom law. More liberal advocates generally believe religious liberty protections work best when they're balanced with other types of protections, including LGBTQ nondiscrimination laws, while more conservative advocates generally say religious freedom should win out. If you dig into the justices' track record on religion over the 20 years Chief Justice John Roberts has led the court, you'll find several rulings that reflect this tension. Among other issues, the court has split along ideological lines in cases involving school prayer, state funding for religious schools and the Affordable Care Act's birth control mandate. In these decisions and others, the court's conservative majority embraced a broad interpretation of religious exercise protections, while the court's more liberal justices called for limitations on religious freedom in their dissents. These split decisions are often what people think of when they think of the Supreme Court and religion — but they're actually the exception, not the rule. From Roberts' confirmation in September 2005 to April 2021, religious freedom claims succeeded in front of the Supreme Court 13 times. Nine of those 13 rulings were either unanimous or from a mixed 7-2 majority, according to a Deseret News analysis from 2021. In the four years since that analysis was released, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of religion claims in merits cases seven more times. Four of the decisions were unanimous, while a fifth was 8-1. In other words, the justices are finding ways to bridge the gap between conservative and liberal takes on religious freedom, including in cases involving LGBTQ rights. When you consider the court's record on religion, Thursday's unanimous ruling no longer seems surprising. But it might still feel worth celebrating, especially if you're worried about the state of the religious freedom landscape. Before the Supreme Court enters its summer recess in early July, the justices will have one more opportunity to model consensus-building in a religious freedom case. In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the court is considering whether the First Amendment gives religious parents a right to opt their kids out of reading or hearing books about LGBTQ issues. During oral arguments in April, the court appeared divided along ideological lines, as the Deseret News reported at the time. More liberal justices seemed to support the school district, which said that religious freedom protects you from being coerced into changing your beliefs, not from being exposed to other ideas. More conservative justices seemed to support the families, who felt like their religious teachings were being drowned out. It wasn't immediately clear what a compromise ruling would look like. But even as Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked tough questions of the school district's attorney, he reminded everyone to keep searching. 'The whole goal, I think, of some of our religion precedents is to look for the win/win,' he said.
LBCI
05-06-2025
- Business
- LBCI
Urgent draft law referred to Lebanese Parliament granting tax relief to war-affected citizens
An urgent draft law has been referred to Parliament aiming to provide tax and fee exemptions for individuals affected by the Israeli war on Lebanon. The proposed legislation includes measures to suspend deadlines related to tax obligations and rights, offering relief to those who sustained damage during the conflict.
