Employment Laws
A number of important employment laws take effect on January 1, including Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, Arizona’s “mini-COBRA” law, and California’s law protecting sexual harassment victims and employers from defamation claims.
In addition, full enforcement of Oregon’s Equal Pay Act of 2017 and Oregon’s predictive scheduling law begins next Tuesday.
If you haven’t already determined which new laws may apply to your business and employees on January 1, you should do so.
Further, if you are an employee, you’ll want to find out whether there are any new laws applicable to your employer that will give you greater protection from discrimination, higher pay, or better benefits.
Making Tax-Free Gifts
Although the estate and gift tax exemption for 2019 is $11.4 million per person, this is only temporary. After 2025, if Congress hasn’t made any changes before then, the exemptions will revert to $5 million, adjusted for inflation.
Given the uncertainty of the future tax laws, it may, therefore, still be a good idea for you to make “annual exclusion” gifts before year end. These gifts do not count toward your exemption and can be up to $15,000 per person per year ($30,000 if your spouse joins in the gift).
Further, in addition to the federal estate tax, nearly half the states have a state estate or inheritance tax. For example, in Oregon, the exemption from estate tax is only $1,000,000, and in Washington, it is only $2,193,000.
It is important for you to take care of these items before New Year’s if you wish to enjoy their benefits for this tax year.
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On behalf of the DuBoff Law Group, we would all like to wish you a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
Please let us know how we can help you realize your goals in the future.
Photo by Nitish Meena on Unsplash
