Inflation Adjustments to Federal Transfer Tax Exemption

It has been commonly reported that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the lifetime exclusion for gift and estate taxes from $5.6 million to $11.2 million for single taxpayers and from $11.2 million to $22.4 million for couples.  However, the actual numbers may be closer to $11.18 million for singles (and $22.36 million for couples) due to changes in the way inflation adjustment calculations are performed. 

The annual gift tax exclusion can be expected to increase to $15,000 for 2018 after being adjusted for inflation.