(UBS)
During lunch at his Princeton home with his friend Leo Mattersdorf, Albert Einstein reportedly said, “The hardest thing in the world to understand is income taxes.”¹
While that might be a matter of perspective, income taxes—and taxes more broadly—are complex. According to the National Taxpayer Advocate, who is appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury and is responsible for promoting the fair administration of federal tax laws, the complexity of those laws—which includes income, gift, estate, and other taxes—has been one of the most serious problems facing taxpayers.²
In this guide, we try to simplify and summarize some of the key aspects of federal and state income and wealth transfer taxes. It’s a reference guide that aims to help answer questions. We focus on how these taxes apply to individuals and explore some planning strategies for potentially minimizing taxes and achieving other wealth planning objectives. Our goal is to enable readers to enhance their financial well-being through a fuller understanding of the implications of tax laws and planning strategies.
This is a collaborative work. While Jacqueline, Chelsea, and I wrote it and are thus credited as the authors, other members of the Advanced Planning Group contributed invaluably in their own ways, reviewing drafts, sharing ideas, and offering insights. Also, as highlighted throughout this guide, many of them have written guides and whitepapers that delve more deeply into the strategies and topics mentioned in this guide. While all of those publications are available from UBS Financial Advisors, several are available on the Advanced Planning Group’s site located at ubs.com/advancedplanning .
We hope you find this guide useful in your planning. And, if we’re successful, just maybe, you’ll find that taxes aren’t the hardest thing to understand.
Tess Mayo
Senior Wealth Strategist
Advanced Planning Group
1 Leo Mattersdorf, Letter to the Editor, Time, February 22, 1963.
2 National Taxpayer Advocate, 2022 Annual Report to Congress, pp. 45-58. See also National Taxpayer Advocate, 2025 Annual Report to Congress, pp. vii-ix, 5-17, and 90-117 (highlighting the complexity of recent tax law changes and citing complexity as a factor contributing to misinformation, non-compliance, and scams); and National Taxpayer Advocate, 2024 Annual Report to Congress, pp. viii, x, 60-63, 106, 108, and 109 (citing complexity as a factor adversely affecting tax administration and tax literacy).
