A client recently asked me this question: “What, in your opinion, is the possibility that a change in presidential or congressional leadership brought about by this year’s elections could lead to the closing of the DST tax loophole?”
From time to time a Seller of an appreciated business or property, who is interested in the Deferred Sales Trust (DST) will comment that the legal costs associated with setting up the DST are too high. But are they?
A Deferred Sales Trust can be a fantastic tool for minimizing your tax obligations and investing the savings to build your wealth. Yet, any method for making money carries risk with it, and a DST is no different.
DSTs, or Deferred Sales Trusts, are taking the investment world by storm. This flexible investment opportunity allows you to sell assets and avoid paying taxes on capital gains. This can potentially result in millions of dollars saved, depending on the size of the gains. Even smaller investments can see big returns: capital gains tax can take over 20% of your gains away, depending on the situation.
Although modern trust law traces back to feudal England in the 1100s, citizens of the Roman Republic secretly used an oral agreement called “fideicommissum” (something committed to one’s trust) to work around civil succession laws. This way, they could leave wealth or property to those considered as lower-class, including foreigners, slaves, couples without children or unmarried individuals — an act that was punishable by death.
Avoiding capital gains tax may be the primary selling point of a Deferred Sales Trust, yet it is not the only benefit. Furthermore, some may even argue that deferring taxes is not even its best feature, considering the flexibility you have when structuring the trust.
The Deferred Sales Trust is a tax strategy that uses the proceeds from the sale of virtually any asset to establish a trust held by a certified, third-party Deferred Sales Trustee. Read about two scenarios with varying degrees of post-divorce capital gain realization where the Deferred Sales Trust tax strategy would have been useful.
Most Americans have realized good appreciation in their home values from 2008 – 2018. With an IRS exclusion of $250,000 per person and $500,000 per couple, they can realize a handsome profit after two or more years of owning and residing in that home.
There is rarely a single person behind any wealth management strategy, and a Deferred Sales Trust is no different.
A DST has two beneficial uses: First, it allows you to structure an asset sale to defer the capital gains tax payments indefinitely. Second, it provides a vehicle for you to invest the full proceeds to best suit your financial and lifestyle objectives.
In Part 1, Charles and Maddie’s story illustrated how life and politics can make a father’s desire to provide for his daughter much harder than it should be. While not ultra-wealthy by any standard, Charles has enough retirement savings that he should be able to structure supplemental income for Maddie for many years should he succumb to heart disease complications or any other premature death.