Trump’s Tax Cut Revival Sparks Fierce Estate Planning Race | Image Source: www.foxbusiness.com
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 15, 2025 – As the financial day casts a long shadow on U.S. portfolios and books of account, a new chapter of U.S. tax policy is growing in silence. Supported by President Donald Trump’s allies in Congress, a wide range of tax proposals have generated both emotion and anxiety among wealthy families, real estate planners and small business owners. With proposals on the table to make tax cuts and jobs (TCJA) permanent in 2017, to repeal property tax and to review the capital gains rules, bets are high and the deadline is strict.
According to many political projects circulating in Congress and the analysis of fiscal strategies, these new measures are not simply political. They are a project of radical recalibration of how wealth is accumulated, preserved and transferred to the United States. From Texas family-run ranches to Manhattan art collections, the implications are considerable. And for lawyers and financial advisors, the urgency is clear: plan now or risk being taken flat by a fast legislative train.
What is included in Trump’s new tax campaign?
The 2025 legislative session opened a familiar but sharper tone. Trump-aligned legislators are leading a series of bills designed to cement or expand the tax legacy of the 2017 CTJA. In accordance with the Main Street Tax Security Act and the Inflation Relief Act, legislative priorities include:
- Permanent extension of the TCJA’s individual tax cuts (HR 976)
- Continuing the 20% pass-through deduction for small businesses
- Indexing capital gains to inflation
- Repealing the estate and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax entirely (Death Tax Repeal Act)
- Reducing the estate tax rate to 20% (HR 601)
- Enacting a national sales tax to replace income, estate, and capital gains taxes (FairTax Act, HR 25)
Although the proposed tax cuts seem to echo previous reforms, they also have a different urgency and scope. As Fox Business said, Trump’s allies view change as an economic need in the midst of inflation and slow wage growth. The argument is simple: freeing up capital and rewarding risk-taking are essential to regaining US economic leadership.
What if property tax is revoked or reduced?
One of the most consistent elements of Trump’s tax program is the proposed repeal of the federal tax and GST. Under the Death Tax Exemption Act, property tax would disappear completely, leaving a 35% reduced donation tax for transfers above the exemption threshold. This proposal would also continue to strengthen the base, allowing heirs to inherit assets at market value and to avoid capital gains tax on previous contributions.
What if the repeal doesn’t happen? According to property law experts, the current exemption of $13.61 million per person (2025) will be halved by 2025, which will cancel approximately $7 million unless new legislation is in place. This reversal could result in thousands of rich properties returning to taxable territory. Families with high-value business, farmland or non-liquid assets, such as artwork, can face several billions of tax bills.
In any scenario, advisors ask for action. Life donation strategies based on the current high exemption, the use of irrevocable life insurance trusts for liquidity, and the creation of the grantor’s retained annuality obligations (GRAT) are the first level. As Forbes points out, “uncertainty is constant,” and proactive planning can now block important long-term benefits.
How will these proposals affect family businesses and real estate?
The fate of family businesses can be balanced. According to the policy analysis shared by the Post-Gazette, tax relief on property would facilitate transition leadership and ownership of family businesses without triggering a forced or severe sale of cash. However, this makes governance and succession no less critical.
“Even if the tax burden disappears,” said one prominent lawyer, “the emotional and operational challenges of succession remain. You still need structures.” These include shareholder agreements, purchase-by-purchase agreements and documented leadership transition plans. In short, the repeal facilitates mathematics, but not management.
Real estate also remains a high-risk asset category under current law. A $15 million coastal farm or work ranch could be subject to property tax without proper planning, especially because of its harm. Tools such as section 2032A (Special Use Assessment), conservation facilities or ownership of entities through LLC remain essential, regardless of changes to tax legislation.
What about collections, art and luxury goods?
Few types of assets highlight tension in asset planning, such as fine arts and collections. With the IRS tax gains on recoveries up to 28% and the application of property tax rates to value, it is easy to see how a $10 million art portfolio could become a liability. Trump’s proposals would ease these burdens, allowing collections to pass without dragging taxes.
However, the complexity of evaluation, source documentation and insurance remains vital. According to property planning advisors, such assets often have cross-border complications or donor restrictions. So, even if property taxes disappear, planning doesn’t. Families continue to be encouraged to participate in the management of these portfolios by lawyers, valuation experts and tax professionals.
What role does the FairTax Act play in all of this?
Although politically unlikely, the FairTax Act has received new attention. His bold proposal: to eliminate all federal revenues, capital gains and property taxes in favour of a national sales tax. In paper, it is a radical simplification. In practice, this would represent a tectonic change in U.S. taxation, which redistributes the tax burden to consumption rather than income or wealth.
“It’s not something that would make a plan,” said a tax strategist, “but it’s a family of wild cards that need to understand that it exists.” Although FairTax law never gains traction, its ideological momentum reflects growing frustration with fiscal complexity and perceived inequalities. Thus, it indirectly pushes legislators towards simplification and reform.
How to prepare families and their counsellors?
The strategy is at the intersection of policy and planning. The best approach, according to most experts, is to plan several scenarios. Families should:
- Review existing estate documents for clauses tied to outdated tax thresholds or rules.
- Maximize the 2025 gift exemption window before it potentially sunsets.
- Model different outcomes using estate planning software or tax simulations.
- Use flexible planning tools like SLATs (Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts) and charitable remainder trusts.
According to the Conservative Action Project, which supports the proposed reforms, the objective is not just tax reduction, but economic freedom. But in the real world of real estate planning, freedom comes with a great deal of paperwork, projections and stage testing.
Why is it important now?
Time is all. With the TCJA provisions that expire at the end of 2025, families have less than 20 months to act. It is a narrow window for restructuring the trust, transferring assets or reviewing legal documents. And given the unpredictable nature of the policy, few advisors rely on guarantees.
As Steve Forbes said at Fox Business, betting goes beyond the fair economy. It is a struggle to restore prosperity and correct what it calls the damage of the “Bidenomics”. In this global vision, approving Trump’s tax plan becomes not only a policy, but in principle – a referendum on the role of government in personal wealth.
However, for clients, this is less ideology and more impact. As a privately shared family office manager, “we are less concerned about what is happening than not being prepared if something happens.” It’s a feeling of echo through living rooms and kitchen tables.
In the end, tax law is only part of inherited planning. Families must also deal with governance, values and administration issues. Will beneficiaries manage sudden wealth? Do they share the philanthropic vision of the family? Have you received courses in financial literacy? These are issues that cannot be addressed by tax reform, but can make it more urgent.
At this rare time of legislative clarity and major issues, planners and families are called upon not only to act, but to lead. The rules can change. But the mission – preserving, protecting and transmitting a significant legacy – remains.
