Bill and Hillary Clinton are finding their way around an estate tax they have long supported, a cause they said would prevent the U.S. from being overrun by inherited wealth.
The Clintons are employing a series of financial planning strategies that will help reduce the tax burden on future recipients, which can be as high as 40%, Bloomberg News reported.
The steps are common among multimillionaires and include creating a residence trust, a type of tax advantaged set-up that allows any appreciation in real estate value to build outside of the taxable estate.
During Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, she supported a higher estate tax by lowering the personal exemption to $3.5 million versus the current $5.34 million, and setting the top tax rate at 45%.
The Clinton’s finances have come under the microscope as Hillary Clinton promotes her new book, “Hard Choices.” She said in an interview on ABC television that they were “dead broke” by the end of Bill Clinton’s presidency. Critics responded that she didn’t understand the financial hardships of everyday Americans.