One tax increase that is in the proposed Jobs bill going through Congress right now is that it will limit the availability of the use of Grantor Retained Annuity and Unitrusts to periods of ten years or more. These are also known as “Walton GRATS”. The bill version that I saw indicates that the effective date is the date the Act is signed into law. So, if you’re considering short term GRATs, this is the time to do it or possibly lose it. Update as of 4:00 p.m. The Senate passed the bill. It now goes back to the House for ratification. On the good side if you sell your small business before 2012, you get to exclude up to $10 Million of gain.