Retroactive Tax Laws – But They Can’t Do That, Can They?
We all know that change is likely coming to the tax regimes governing individual income and gift and estate taxes – but what if the change is already here? There are a number of potential effective dates floating around for President Biden’s tax bill, with some in the future and some already in the past.
The uncertainty of the substantive changes coupled with potential retroactive effective dates may leave many individuals looking for some form of steady ground, and understandably asking themselves, “but they can’t do that, can they?” After all, the U.S. Constitution says no “ex post facto Law shall be passed.” And understandably, a taxpayer should be able to confidently rely upon the law in place when they enter a transaction without fear that the same, published law might not later govern their transaction. Read more