The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys asked its members to share this post:
“This Week: House Could Vote on Tax-Favored Accounts
for Some Persons with Disabilities
The House may potentially vote on a bill this week that would create tax-favored accounts for children and adults whose disability occurred before age 26.
The most recent version of the bill, known as the ABLE Act, would allow these tax-favored accounts to receive up to the annual gift tax exemption (currently $14,000 per year). Beneficiaries are restricted to one account, but anyone could contribute to their account.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, “assets in an ABLE account and distributions from the account for qualified disability expenses would be disregarded when determining the qualified beneficiary’s eligibility for most federal means-tested benefits. For SSI [Supplemental Security Income], only the first $100,000 in each ABLE account would be disregarded.”
The news came as part of the House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) floor schedule for the week. Congress hopes to finish up its lame-duck session in the next two weeks.
The Senate would still need to pass the Act before going to the President’s desk for signature. The original version, which was substantially larger in scope, had 74 co-sponsors in the Senate and 380 in the House.
NAELA will continue to monitor this legislation as it develops.”
Source: http://www.naela.org, December 1, 2014