Nov. 8, 2016, saw the end of one of the most contentious political presidential elections in quite some time.

Each candidate had distinctly different plans for the direction they wanted to take this country.

From a taxation perspective, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s platform called for increased taxes for higher income individuals, including capital gains and estate taxes. Trump took an opposite approach by promoting a reduction of some taxes and even the elimination of others. Having studied the provisions of President Donald J. Trump’s policy, it’s clear that this administration is looking for a high volume of activity to generate the necessary revenue to accomplish his tax policy goals.

 A recent study by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center said Trump’s tax policies will create a $7 trillion deficit in 10 years and a $22 trillion deficit by 2036. In order to debunk those forecasts, the Trump administration is looking to fund the government by exceeding gross domestic product estimates while encouraging investments in labor, structures, machinery and equipment.

So how will these tax revisions affect your sheet metal forming business and if you plan to leave it? Here are some provisions that have been discussed under the Trump tax plan:

• Reduction of business income tax from 35 to 15 percent. This rate is intended to include C corporations as well as pass-through entities such as sole proprietorship, partnerships and S corporations.
• Elimination of the alternative minimum tax.
• Reducing the number of income tax brackets from seven to three with the highest bracket at 33 percent versus the current top tax rate of 39.6 percent.
• Repeal of the estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes; however, they would be replaced with capital gains tax on appreciated assets at the date of death.
• Repeal of the 3.8 percent net investment income tax that was introduced by the Affordable Care Act.
• Immediate expensing of investments made in your business.
• Elimination of investment interest expense deduction, if expensing election is made.

Benefits for you

Clearly, the greatest benefit comes from the reduced individual and corporate income tax rates. Since almost all business acquisitions are executed with after-tax dollars — an employee stock ownership plan being the exception — it will become less costly to generate net proceeds to acquire corporate assets or stock. This will be particularly beneficial to closely held businesses that are transferring internally to family and managers — the most common contractor exit plan.

In addition, the plan calls for an election to expense all investments in equipment, structures and inventory rather than depreciating them. The trade-off is that investment interest expense would not be an allowable deduction. 

There is clearly an opening for abuse here where more employees may be categorized as independent contractors and getting the benefit of the 15 percent tax rate versus the higher individual tax rate on wages. This is a concern, but one that has yet to be addressed from an enforcement perspective.

More good news is the capital gains tax will also likely see a reduction. The proposed plan calls for continued beneficial tax treatment by allowing taxation at the preferred rates. The plan further calls for the elimination of the net investment income tax that was created by the ACA (aka Obamacare) and added an additional 3.8 percent tax on capital transactions based on your income level.

Two other taxes that are subject to repeal are the alternative minimum and estate taxes. One of the benefits of the elimination of the AMT is that C corporations that were established years ago may now get better tax benefits from using the section No. 1202 gain exclusion. If certain C corporation requirements are met, the 1202 election provides for a 50 percent exclusion on the gain of a stock sale.

The catch was that the 50 percent taxable gain that was taxed at a 28 percent rate versus the lower 15 or 20 percent rate and the excluded amount was subject to the AMT. This, in turn, provided very little benefit. The elimination of the AMT will now yield greater results for this strategy. These provisions were modified in 2009 and 2010, allowing for a 75 and 100 percent exclusion if the corporations were established between 2009 and 2011 and met certain other requirements. This provision is not available to S corporations and other pass-through entities.

Death to the estate tax? 

The repeal of the estate tax — aka the death tax — is another great benefit under this tax plan for business owners. There are many stories where businesses and families were decimated because of this tax. If this provision does get included in the tax plan, business owners could spend more time planning for the distribution of assets to successors and not how to liquidate those assets to pay the tax.

There is a trade-off to this provision, however. Under Trump’s plan, a capital gain tax will be imposed on the appreciated value of a deceased person’s assets. In other words the assets will be treated as being sold at date of death, and the “gain” would be taxed at capital gains rates to the estate. There would be an exclusion to the gain of $5 million for single-filing individuals and $10 million for married couples.

Based on what we’ve learned, exiting your business will still be taxing; however, it does seem that greater opportunities to save tax dollars on your exit will be available.

Major tax reform is one of the topics at the top of this administration’s list and one that could see action within its first 100 days. If you are a business owner, careful consideration should be given to the various tax-saving strategies that will be coming down the road in the near future.

If you are planning on leaving your company, comprehensive planning should be your top priority, including risk management, succession, value building and, of course, taxes. A successful exit is one where each of these strategies works in concert with your business, personal and financial planning spheres, and works in concert to support your exiting goals. 

Certified public accountant Joseph Bazzano is chief operating officer of Beacon Exit Planning LLC, a certified valuation analyst and a certified business exit consultant with more than 20 years of experience in public accounting, valuation and exit-strategy services to closely held companies ranging from $100,000 to $100 million. Visit them at www.BeaconExitPlanning.com.

U.S. Treasury Circular No. 230 requires that this firm advise you that any tax advice provided was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used by you, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that the IRS could impose upon you.