Center for Federal Tax Policy

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.

Related Articles

Same-Sex Marriages Recognized for Federal Tax Purposes – What Does it Mean for the States?

Links: Gas Tax Increases, Effective Corporate Tax Rates, and the Estate Tax

Tax Policy and the Defense of Marriage Act

New Paper on Estate Tax Misses the Mark

Measuring the Economic and Distributional Effects of the Final Fiscal Cliff Bill

Modeling the Economic and Distributional Effects of the Senate Tax Bill

The Fiscal Cliff was Created Two Years Ago Today

Raising Revenue: The Least Worst Options

Diving Off the Fiscal Cliff: An Economy on the Rocks

A Quick Guide to the Obama and Romney Tax Plans

Simulating the Economic Effects of Romney’s Tax Plan

Why Progressives Should Want to End the Estate Tax, Too

The Estate Tax: Even Worse Than Republicans Say

Would Romney Pay Zero Taxes under the Ryan Plan?

How the States Would Be Affected by Extension of the Bush Tax Cuts and Other Provisions

Fate of Bush Tax Cuts Uncertain As Expiration Approaches

Taxing Net Worth: Theoretically Flawed and Unrealistic

Wall Street Journal Discusses Consequences of a “Temporary Tax Code”

Death Tax Compromise Protects Thousands of Estates from the Tax

Harkin, Whitehouse and Sanders Are Pushing an Estate Tax Proposal That Might Be Called the “Die Abroad Act”