Estate and Gift Taxes
The federal government taxes transfers of wealth in three ways: through the estate tax, the gift tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax. Together these taxes make up the federal transfer tax system. In addition, many U.S. states impose estate taxes. Estate taxes and generation-skipping transfer taxes are paid on the contents of estates or proceeds of trusts, while transfers of wealth between living persons are subject to gift taxes. The federal government enacted the first estate tax in 1916. Studies routinely find that estate taxes discourage entrepreneurship and lead to large tax compliance costs.
Additional questions about estate taxes? Contact Bill Ahern at (202) 464-5101.
Related Blog Entries
- California Activist Proposes Wealth Tax and Probably Unconstitutional Exit Tax, by Joseph Henchman and Paul Galindo, August 25, 2008
- Presidential Campaigns to Address Major Domestic Policy Issues, by Courtney Albregts, April 28, 2008
- Survey Says: Estate and Gas Taxes Viewed as "Least Fair", by Andrew Chamberlain, April 2, 2007
- New Study Analyzes Distribution of Taxes and Spending Together, by Gerald Prante, March 23, 2007
- When Bad Tax Policy Meets Life-and-Death Decisions, by Andrew Chamberlain, February 1, 2007
- The Other Estate Tax Payers: Non-Resident Aliens in the U.S., by Andrew Chamberlain, September 22, 2006
- New Study: Estate Tax Unlikely to Reduce Concentration of Wealth, by Andrew Chamberlain, September 22, 2006
- Will Tax Competition Eliminate State-Level Estate Taxes?, by Andrew Chamberlain, September 8, 2006
- Virginia Repeals Estate Tax and Increases Competitiveness, by Alicia Hansen, September 6, 2006
- The Other Estate Tax: Growing Complexity of State-Level Estate Taxes, by Andrew Chamberlain, August 14, 2006
- What's in an Estate Tax Name?, by William Ahern, June 27, 2006
- Disturbing Questions About the Estate Tax and the Timing of Deaths, by Andrew Chamberlain, June 26, 2006
- Rosen on the Estate Tax, by Gerald Prante, June 8, 2006
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- British Estate Tax Forces Guitar Sale, by Patrick Fleenor, May 4, 2006
- Do 'Death Taxes' Affect Economic Choices of the Living?, by Andrew Chamberlain, February 9, 2006
- Death and Taxes in Canada, by Alicia Hansen, January 26, 2006
- Betting on Death and Taxes, by Gerald Prante, December 13, 2005
- The Real Death Tax, by Jonathan Williams, September 28, 2005
- Federal Estate Tax Collections, by Curtis S. Dubay, August 4, 2005
- Americans Say Estate Tax Unfair, Should Be Repealed, by Scott A. Hodge, August 1, 2005
- Would Repealing the Estate Tax Really Hurt Tax Collections?, by William Ahern, July 27, 2005
- States and Estate Taxes, by Curtis S. Dubay, July 14, 2005
