PHILANTHROPY

Michael Kosnitzky, Kamal Hotchandani and John Utendahl

Paraphrasing Wayne Gretzky, I try to know where the puck or in this case the law is going, not only where it is today. Under current law, you do not pay tax if you hold assets in a nontaxable vehicle or if you do not have a taxable event. So many of our strategies mitigate tax risks by creating vehicles that are not subject to current taxation, like certain types of insurance structures and qualifed retirement plans, or create monetization transactions that don’t involve a current taxable event, like certain types of borrowing and derivative transactions. The tax proposals recently released by the Biden administration already include things like a substantial increases in the corporate and individual income tax rates, the reduction of the capital gain versus ordinary income rate arbitrage, taxing promotes/ proft interests at ordinary income rates if not held for fve years, the permanent inability to freely deduct business expenses against capital gains and qualifed dividends both in the year the business expenses are incurred and in future years if carried over, the elimination of the exclusion for qualifed small business stock gains, the taxation of transfers to irrevocable grantor trusts and the inclusion of assets held in such trusts in the grantor’s estate at death, a reduction by about half of the estate tax basic exclusion amount, and elimination of estate tax valuation discounts for nonbusiness assets, among others. It is not clear whether any or all of these provisions will become law, and if they do, whether they might be retroactive to 2021 rather than prospective and applying in 2022, though the 5 percent capital gain rate increase and the elimination of the exclusion for qualifed small business stock are specifcally stated as being retroactive to September 13, 2021. Perhaps we should look at this as the glass being half full rather than half empty, because of the things that are not in Biden’s proposal that could have been, like a wealth tax, market-to-market taxation, the complete elimination of the estate tax unifed credit, the taxation of gains at death or the elimination of the step up in basis at death, the elimination of bonus depreciation for private aircraft and the application of the 12.4 percent Social Security tax to income above $400.000.

HL: What should be considered when choosing a private wealth lawyer?

MK: The ultra-wealthy rightfully demand responsiveness and are accustomed to getting their way. They also sometimes surround themselves with people who tell them what they want to hear. An experienced and competent private wealth lawyer must not tell a client what he or she wants to hear, but rather what he or she needs to know. These are sometimes difcult conversations, but they are necessary nonetheless. There is certainly no “right” lawyer for all situations, but fnding a private wealth lawyer who is very responsive, and a good listener and communicator, with the confdence to tell you what you need to know and who will not engage in groupthink is likely to be your best hire. A good private wealth lawyer should also help you identify and then limit your legal exposures and think and plan for the long term. We need to guide our clients not just where the law is now but where we believe it will be, and not allow them to be caught on the cusp of change. Unfortunately, the road is strewn with the ultra-wealthy who did not see change coming fast enough to correct future behaviors, or they reacted to their past behaviors far too late to mitigate the risks caused by them.

THE CHARITABLE GAME

PHILANTHROPIST JAMIE TISCH ON CO-CHAIRING THE ASPEN ART MUSEUM’S VIRTUAL ARTCRUSH BENEFIT — AND WHY SHE’S DRIVEN TO GIVE BACK.

BY LAURA SCHREFFLER

PHILANTHROPY IS IN JAMIE TISCH’S DNA. THE COFOUNDER of the entertainment industry’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) sat down with Haute Living to discuss her involvement with the Sotheby’s-presented ArtCrush 2021 (an auction, online this year, that beneftted the Aspen Art Museum, with a curated selection of over 45 works by some exciting modern artists), her love of Aspen and why she decided to open her concept gallery Pitkin Projects there, and why, most of all, she’s driven to give back.

Haute Living: Tell us about your involvement with ArtCrush and what you hoped the event would achieve.

Jamie Tisch: This year’s ArtCrush was a huge success, raising more money than ever before! I’m always excited to help raise money for the Aspen Art Museum. Outside of incredible museum programming, the institution has wonderful programing for schools in a 250-mile radius that would otherwise not have access to art.

HL: Were there any specifc pieces you had your eye on from this year’s live auction?

JT: I am sad to say I was outbid on the Vaugh Spann, the Rita Ackerman and the Mary Weatherford. I have to up my game next year!

HL: Tell us about the vision behind Pitkin Projects and what shoppers can expect.

JT: [When I co-chaired the beneft], I was inspired and knew it was time to take on a new project. I reached out to Lisa Eisner, [Edie Parker founder] Brett Heyman, David Netto, Gregory Parkinson, Salon 9 Design, Meredith Darrow, Friedman Benda and many more incredible talents with the goal of fostering a collaborative design-concept gallery environment. The doors opened in July 2020 with a plan to continue through Labor Day. We were overwhelmed by the reception! By the end of August, I decided that the concept deserved to live on as its own entity.

HL: With travel on pause during the pandemic, how were you able to curate the global pieces for the shop?

JT: Travel has been on pause, but artists’ work has not. I have worked via FaceTime with most of them, abroad and in the States. I am able to walk them through to show them how their work would live organically in our space. I have also been able to do many virtual studio visits, which has worked well.

HL: Why do you give back? Why is it so personally important to you?

JT: Giving back is extremely important to me and has been for decades. I cofounded the Women’s Cancer Research Fund, which is a program of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The WCRF mobilizes the infuential entertainment community to raise critical funds. I am working on something new for WCRF that several Pitkin Projects vendors have said they would like to participate in. It’s still in the early stages, but I’m excited to have a way to combine two things that I care deeply about.

HL: When did you start collecting art, and why?

JT: I started collecting contemporary art when I moved to Los Angeles. It’s there where I met with some amazing artists who inspired me. Each showed me a diferent perspective on how to look at things and perceive art, everything ranging from my upbringing in the South to today’s current events.

HL: What to you is the greatest luxury in life, and why?

JT: The greatest gift in life is being able to travel and spend time with my family.