President's Corner |June 2022

Dear Fellow BEPC Members,
It’s hard to believe that my term as President of the Boston Estate Planning Council is coming to an end on June 30.  Despite the disruption of the pandemic, it has been another great year for BEPC, capped off by the amazing 2022 Annual Gala, celebrated in person with 400 people on May 4. 

As BEPC’s 2022 fiscal year comes to an end, I am excited to see what President-Elect Beth Milkovits has in store for the organization when she takes the helm as President on July 1. However, although the Council is making a transition from one President to another, Beth and I have been working together for many years and we have had continuity in mind as we formulated BEPC’s most important initiatives.   

As the new year unfolds, BEPC will continue to forward the goals of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force, which is now working with the Kaleidoscope Group, a prominent DE&I consulting firm, in a long term multi-tiered engagement in the area of DEI and how these concepts apply to BEPC. 

BEPC will continue to work to raise its profile in the community as a thought leader and the “go-to” place for estate planning in Greater Boston and nationally. The Marketing & Communications Committee continues to work with marketing consultants to enhance and spread the reputation of BEPC in the community. The Council Outreach Committee continues advance BEPC’s leadership role on the national level as one of the most successful estate planning councils in the country.  And the Community Engagement Committee continues to expand its BEPC’s visibility in Greater Boston, while working with community partners to use our collective expertise to help others. 
And of course, as BEPC works to further these long term initiatives, it will also continue to provide members with award winning educational programming and entertaining networking opportunities. The Council has a full schedule of in-person and virtual events coming up in the spring and summer months, including its popular annual Golf Outing and Summer Social events, a new family event, an in-person Roundtable event and more. Please keep a close eye on the calendar at https://www.bepc.org/events/event_list.asp. 

As I think back on the many years I have spent involved in BEPC matters, I look back fondly at the beginning, when I first decided to volunteer to serve on a committee. I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. I didn’t know many people at BEPC and I didn’t really know what the organization was all about. But I had been told that it was a great group and worthy of a look. Turns out joining a committee was a great decision. It led me to where I am now. To support all of BEPC's events, programs, and initiatives, the organization relies on over 160 volunteers to serve on close to 20 committees. Volunteering on a BEPC committee is the perfect way to get involved with BEPC. As this year comes to an end and a new one approaches, I urge you to get involved by volunteering to serve on a committee in the coming year.

Volunteering provides opportunities for members to gain new skills outside of the workplace. Join the Sponsorship Committee to learn about business development! Join the Marketing & Communications Committee to gain experience in online engagement and content marketing! BEPC actively cultivates a culture of giving back through its philanthropic initiatives. Volunteer to serve on the Community Engagement Committee to foster relationships between BEPC members, sponsors, and our Nonprofit Partner Program! BEPC strives to be a thought leader within the estate planning and wealth management industry. Help BEPC develop innovative educational programming by recruiting speakers on emerging topics for the Seminars/Webinars Committee or the Roundtable Committee! BEPC seeks to inform and connect with related professions and geographies. Serve on the Council Outreach Committee to identify opportunities to collaborate with other estate planning councils and professional associations!
During the month of June, the fiscal year 2023 committee leaders will contact those interested in serving on their committee.  Committee membership is finalized during the summer months. If selected to serve on a committee, the committee leadership will confirm your appointment and schedule meetings to begin planning for the year's activities. If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/1dwYptYiTX7GJe9e6. 

Thank you for allowing me to lead this organization for the last year. It has been my greatest honor. I look forward to seeing you all at upcoming events this summer and in future months as the Boston Estate Planning Council moves forward. 

Warm Regards,

Steve M. Carr, President

President's Corner | December 2021

Dear Fellow BEPC Members,

As we hurtle past ever-changing tax proposals, towards the holidays and the end of 2021, I am excited to report that our organization is as strong and as vital as ever, even in the face of the ongoing pandemic.

With the majority of our members now reporting as vaccinated, and with continued safety measures in place, we have begun to stick our toes in the water of in-person events. We hosted the 2021 Kick-Off Networking Reception on a beautiful night in September, on the rooftop at the Revere Hotel. The event was very-well attended and was highlighted by the celebration of Scott Squillace being awarded the 2020 BEPC Excellence Award.  More recently, on December 2, we had approximately 100 people attend the 2021 Holiday Networking Reception at the UMass Club. It was so great to see fellow members and enjoy each other's company, after such a long time away. We in leadership are incredibly excited to begin bringing back these in-person events for those who feel able to attend them. At the same time, we recognize that not everyone is comfortable or medically able to attend events in person. We also value the convenience and utility of the virtual format for many of our events, both educational and networking. As the year progresses, we are planning to offer a mix of events, some in-person, some virtual and some hybrid. Members will be able to pick and choose what works for them, based on their personal preferences. We will continue to work with our management company, McKenna Management, to schedule and produce great events in the most appropriate format for each event.

At the same time as offering our educational and networking events, BEPC continues to move forward on several long-term initiatives. One such initiative is to revamp the Council’s Leadership Development and Officer/Board Nomination processes to focus on bringing in the best leaders in specifically targeted areas of needs.  In addition, several committees are working to raise BEPC’s profile in the community. The Legislative Committee is working to become an active participant and thought-leader on issues being brought through the Massachusetts Legislature.  The Marketing & Communications Committee is working with our marketing consultants to raise the profile of BEPC in the community. Lastly, the Community Engagement Committee continues to work on ways BEPC will engage with the community, including supporting our non-profit partners and becoming involved in a financial literacy program housed at the Suffolk House of Corrections. Through all of this, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force continues to work towards engaging a consultant to help BEPC integrate these issues into all of BEPC’s initiatives.

Lastly, the Boston Estate Planning Council remains financially strong. This is due to the amazing loyalty and support of our corporate sponsors and our devoted members, again in the face of the pandemic.  Due to this support and resultant financial strength, we have been able to offer many more free or low-cost events to our members than in prior years. We have also been able to continue to offer the valuable educational content and frequent networking that our members have come to rely on so heavily.  We continue to look forward to a time where we can all be in person together more freely and more frequently but, until then, we will continue to evolve as needed to keep providing value to our members and the community. I invite you to reach out to me personally if you have any input or suggestions you would like to offer.  Thank you for your support.

Warm Regards,

Steve M. Carr, President

Hiccup in Mass. Pass-Through Entity Legislation

Beacon Hill is now experiencing a bit of a hiccup in its efforts to fashion some relief to co-owners of pass-through business entities from the annual $10,000 federal limitation on the allowance of taxes as an itemized deduction.

Though Massachusetts cannot unilaterally create a full-blown end-run around the federal limitation, the legislature has come up with a creative way of generating a deduction for such co-owners, by converting a state income tax into an excise tax.  House Bill No. 4009, “An Act relative to the taxation of pass-through entities,” was re-enacted on August 2, 2021, after a rejection of an amendment proposed by the Governor.  As enacted by the legislature, the Act would provide an option for any pass-through business entity (including a partnerships, S corporation or LLC treated as either of those) to pay an excise tax equal to 5% of its income taxable in Massachusetts.  Each co-owner could then claim a refundable tax credit of 90% of his or her share of the excise tax.  This legislation reportedly is modeled after a 2020 Connecticut law.

In a message dated August 3, 2021, however, the Governor vetoed that legislation, asserting (again) that the credit should be 100%, not 90%.  It will be taken up again by the House. It seems likely to be enacted eventually, likely with the legislature overriding the Governor’s veto.

The legislature’s limitation of the owners’ refunds to 90% of the tax could be justified as an attempt to provide some better substance to the excise tax.  A tax which is potentially refundable in full to an entity’s owners might seem to lack much substance.

Even at a 90% credit rate, the optional excise tax will be attractive to many pass-through entities, including those in which BEPC members participate and those that BEPC members advise.

As yet untested is the premise that a state’s labeling of a tax as an excise tax is enough to negate its character as an income tax – and thereby remove it from the list of taxes subject to the $10,000 limitation – where it is determined solely by the entity’s taxable income.  If the federal tax deduction ultimately failed, the optional excise tax would, at a 90% refund rate, turn into a loser for the co-owners.  On the other hand, if the federal deduction was upheld, sole proprietors might have an incentive to refashion their businesses as pass-through entities.