Loopholes in the Estate and Gift Tax System and Possible Solutions

Eric G. Reis (Attorney at Law, Thompson & Knight LLP) has recently published his article entitled Mr. Soros Goes to Washington: The Case for Reform of the Estate and Gift Tax Treatment of Political Contributions, 42 Real Prop. Prob. & Tr. J. 299 (2007).

Here is the editor’s synopsis of his article:

This Article recognizes a growing interest in long-term political giving and considers how this trend will expose weaknesses in the current estate and gift tax regime for political contributions. Through an exploration of planning techniques used to exploit gift tax charitable deductions and other gift tax exclusions under prior law, the Article considers how the unlimited gift tax exclusion for political contributions might also be used to circumvent the current estate and gift tax system by facilitating tax-free transfers to members of a donor’s family. The Article then proposes several significant reforms to the system, including the adoption of rules limiting the gift tax exclusion for political contributions and the enactment of an estate tax deduction for bequests to political organizations.