The current uncertain tax situation in Washington requires constant scrutiny by advisors, according to Ross Bruch, senior vice president and senior wealth planner at Brown Brothers Harriman, a private investment bank and wealth management firm based in New York City.

Business and individual tax decisions have to be weighed on a risk analysis basis—judging everything with the idea in mind that taxes may increase in the near future, Bruch said in an interview Tuesday.

“This is not a time to bury your head in the sand,” Bruch said. “There is not a ‘set it and forget it’ scenario right now for tax planning.”

Bruch noted that President Biden promised, even during his campaign, that those making less than $400,000 a year will not pay higher taxes. If the president can keep that promise, decisions in the next few months become more crucial to high-net-worth individuals and families.

“This is a good time for these individuals to talk with their advisors to ensure they are tax compliant, have qualified appraisals performed when necessary, and are properly tracking income and maintaining records,” Bruch said. Beyond that, “decisions have to be made with long-term goals in mind."

For instance, if an individual or family is considering selling a business, they may want to do so now, to avoid higher capital gains taxes in the future.

Or, if someone is considering a conversion to a Roth IRA, he or she may want to do it now, rather than later, when taxes could be higher.

It also may be tax-advantageous to speed up gifts to children or other heirs before the inheritance tax exemption is reduced in 2026. Different types of trusts can be established to ensure heirs receive the money in the future with tax advantages locked in place.

“But nothing is certain,” Bruch said. Even the 2026 exemption reduction might not hold. “We advise most clients to plan for the tax laws as they are now, but to explore what the changes may be” in order to make a realistic risk analysis.

Adding to the uncertainty is President Biden’s infrastructure bill making progress with some bipartisan support. If it is approved, even at a reduced price tag from what Biden wanted, the question will remain how Congress will pay for it. The White House has identified increasing tax enforcement as a possible revenue source to help pay for infrastructure spending; however, Republican lawmakers may not support the level of increase that Biden wants.

“It is important to remember that the Biden administration hopes to increase taxpayer compliance not only because it could raise additional revenue to help pay for infrastructure costs, but also because it could narrow the tax gap, which the Treasury Department estimated to be as high as $554 billion in 2019. Because of these dual goals, the Treasury Department will likely aim to increase enforcement on tax evasion regardless of whether the IRS receives additional funding in the current legislative session,” Bruch said.

It’s too early to know exactly what this means for taxpayers going forward, but independent of whether the IRS’s current budget is increased, non-compliant taxpayers may face additional scrutiny in the coming years because of the Treasury Department’s renewed attention on enforcement, he added.