My understanding is that this piece largely glosses over what is the only truly guaranteed way to escape taxes on capital gains: charitable trusts.
As the article aptly points out, deferring unrealized gains does not necessarily lead to tax avoidance. Either you eventually sell your assets and pay capital gains, or you die and gains are taxed via estate tax.
However, by transferring your assets to a charitable trust, you can avoid both capital gains tax and estate tax. Yes, your heirs will have to pay ordinary income tax when withdrawing from said trust, but due to the US's progressive income tax, said tax rate can be quite low.
> Either you eventually sell your assets and pay capital gains
Or, you wait until the government makes a 'temporary' change to the tax code that allows you to reduce your tax more than normal and do it then. Which, to my understanding, is what actually happens...
As the article aptly points out, deferring unrealized gains does not necessarily lead to tax avoidance. Either you eventually sell your assets and pay capital gains, or you die and gains are taxed via estate tax.
However, by transferring your assets to a charitable trust, you can avoid both capital gains tax and estate tax. Yes, your heirs will have to pay ordinary income tax when withdrawing from said trust, but due to the US's progressive income tax, said tax rate can be quite low.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.