Fiscal Cliff Tax Legislation Brings Certainty to Estate, Gift and GST Taxes and Makes Changes Affecting Charitable Giving
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which Congress passed on January 1, 2013 and the President signed into law on January 2, 2013, provides a permanent (i.e., there is no currently-scheduled change to the law) set of federal estate, gift and generation skipping transfer tax laws for the first time in 12 years and contains a number of important changes to federal income tax laws that relate to charitable giving. In addition, the 3.8% Medicare surtax on net investment income went into effect on January 1, 2013.