It’s that time of the year again—time to begin considering year-end tax planning issues. Rather than wait until the end of December, getting a head start on planning can improve your chances of concluding matters by Dec. 31. Here are some options that we suggest you consider before the end of 2018 to enable you to start 2019 in the best wealth planning shape possible:

Annual Exclusion Gifts. Each individual can make a cumulative annual gift tax exclusion gift of $15,000 per donee during 2018 (or $30,000 for a married couple electing to split gifts), without using any portion of his or her federal estate and gift tax exemption. The federal estate and gift tax exemption is also set to increase from $11.18 million per individual this year, to a projected $11.4 million in 2019 (allowing a married couple to shield up to $22.8 million from federal estate and gift taxes). Annual exclusion gifts can be made outright, through 529 Plan benefits (education savings accounts), or in special qualifying trust structures. For those still considering such gifts, it may be worthwhile to plan for 2018 and 2019 at the same time, keeping in mind that gifts for 2019 can be made effective as of Jan. 1.

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