Today, December 1, 2016, all eyes will be on the public hearing before Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C. At that hearing, witnesses will urge the Treasury to withdraw or substantially revise the controversial proposed Internal Revenue Code Section 2704(b) regulations designed to limit or eliminate estate valuation discounts for family-owned entities. See additional posts on our website for more details about these proposed regulations.
There is no question that these proposed rules have generated a great deal of concern and criticism. Many commentators look at the rules as a hidden tax increase on family assets being transferred from senior generation business owners to junior generation business owners. Thus, at the heart of the proposed rules is the stealth motivation to push values up for estate and gift tax purposes on intra-family transfers.
According to BV Wire, The Treasury website shows a total of 9,802comments received from individual taxpayers, family businesses, attorneys, wealth planners, and, of course, valuation practitioners and valuation professional organizations (VPOs). The VPOs have a number of individuals scheduled to testify.
The American Society of Appraisers (ASA) filed written comments along with the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA). Testifying at the hearing on behalf of for the ASA will be William Frazier (Stout Risius Ross Inc.).
The National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) also filed a comment letter and will have the following individuals testify on its behalf, Robert J. Grossman (Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP), Mark Hanson (Schenck SC), Peter Agrapides (Western Valuation Advisors) and Robert M. Weinstock (Strategic Valuation Group).
Testifying on behalf of the AICPA will be Justin P. Ransome (Ernst & Young LLP) and Michelle F. Gallagher (Gallagher, Flintoff & Klein PLC).
Bob Grossman will post a summary of those comments of interest garnered at the hearing later this week.
In the interim, if you have questions or comments, please contact Bob Grossman or Melissa Bizyak at 412-338-9300.
