2704 Regulations Explained: Proposed Rules Are Set to Further Expand Value Differences between Family-Controlled Entities and Other Companies

The IRS is focused on reducing valuation discounts associated with transfers of interests in family-controlled businesses, but this focus will result in family members being deemed to receive a different value than non-family members. This also means that an appraiser will be required to establish two different values based on ignoring certain restrictions for family members while taking those same restrictions into consideration for non-family members.

Consider, for example, a trust that provides that 50 percent of a decedent’s family-controlled business interest will go to charity and the remaining 50 percent will go to family members. The IRS will be expecting that the interest being conveyed to the family members to result in a higher value when compared to the same percentage interest being conveyed to charity. This ultimately means that the interest conveyed to family will result in higher estate taxes and the interest conveyed to charity will result in a smaller charitable deduction for estate tax purposes. The end result is the IRS receives more estate tax from the estate even though the same restrictions apply to all members (both the family members and charity).

This post is part of a series of blog posts addressing the proposed 2704 regulations and the parties that should be reviewing their plans as a result.

View previous posts:

• 2704 Regulations Explained: Proposed Rules Negating Gift and Estate Tax Valuation Discounts May Ensnare Your Vacation Home Too
• 2704 Regulations Explained: Winners and Losers of Proposed §2704 Regulations, Is the IRS a Loser?
• 2704 Regulations Explained: Why is the IRS Targeting Valuation Discounts on Family Controlled Entities?

Thomas J. McLaughlin
tmclaughlin@williamsparker.com
941-536-2042