In a recently published Daily Tax Report by Bloomberg BNA, McGuireWoods tax partner Ron Aucutt explains the impact of a new law requiring the IRS to create guidance before receiving finally determined estate value reports from executors. The August 21 issue, titled “Executors, Hold Off on New Basis Reporting for Estates,” details the law intended to deter heirs from claiming that bequeathed assets are worth more than initially reported due to executor error. In the report, Aucutt considers the timeframe of the law, and comments on the sudden need for substantive guidance.
“This is all brand new,” says Aucutt. “There’s no form, no instructions, no guidance. It was just put into the legislation last month with an immediate effective date that was a surprise.”
Despite the Obama administration’s long-standing call for consistent estate valuing in its annual budget proposals, Aucutt sees a much more complicated estate tax landscape:
“Estate tax audits are usually settled on the basis of lots of different moving parts,” he adds, “and executors will concede something in one area of an estate tax return in order to get a concession in another area.”
The notice is scheduled to be published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2015-36 on September 8.