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Estate Taxes

• Estate Tax Myths

  [National Center for Policy Analysis, October 1, 2009] Congress is facing a tax deadline, say Terry Neese, a distinguished fellow, and Bethany Lowe, a research assistant, both with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). Under legislation passed in 2001, the federal estate tax is being phased out: The tax rate is falling and the value of the property of the deceased that is exempted from the tax is rising.

• Spend it in Vegas or Die Paying Taxes

  [Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2009] Advocates of the estate tax argue that such a tax will reduce the concentrations of wealth in a few families, but there is little evidence to suggest that the estate tax has much, if any, impact on the distribution of wealth. To see the silliness of using the estate tax as a tool to redistribute wealth, realize that those who die and leave estates would be taxed just as much if they bequeathed their money to poor people as they would if they left their money to rich people. Indeed, in its most basic form, it's about as silly an idea as can be imagined that America in the aggregate can increase the standards of living of future generations by taxing individual Americans for passing on higher standards of living to future generations of Americans of their choice, argues Arthur Laffer.

• Economy slamming Western cities

  [Denver Business Journal, September 15, 2008] The fiscal health of local governments in the West has been hardest hit by rising home foreclosures, falling home values, and spiraling costs of items including health insurance.

• Stayin' Alive: How to Cheat The Estate Tax

  [The Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2008] As ghoulish as it sounds, thousands of high-net-worth Americans who care about the financial well-being of their heirs have a powerful tax incentive to survive until at least Jan. 1, 2009. On that day, the federal estate-tax exclusion is scheduled to jump to $3.5 million from $2 million this year.

• Death by Taxes: Seniors May Plan Their Demises to Maximize Their Bequests

  [The Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2008] [T]he estate tax is scheduled to fall from 45% today to zero in 2010, but then rise all the way up to 55% in 2011. If speeding up death can prevent a small fortune from being captured by the government, it's not a stretch to suspect that death will be timed conveniently.

• New Law Makes Escape Tougher For Tax Exiles

  [The Wall Street Journal, May 28, 2008] [H]undreds of Americans do formally renounce their U.S. citizenship every year, many in order to protect their wealth from income, estate and gift taxes.

• Estimating Federal Tax Burdens for Major City Areas, Counties, and U.S. Congressional Districts

  [Tax Foundation, March 22, 2007] A Tax Foundation model provides estimates of federal tax burdens by three geographic areas for Calendar Year 2004: major city area, county and U.S. congressional district.

• By Default, Mugging Taxpayers

  [Heritage Foundation/Washington Post, April 11, 2007] The budget resolution moving through Congress could give the death tax a new life.

• Back to the Future

  [Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2007] House Democrats recently voted to impose the largest tax hike in American history. It lays the groundwork for bringing back the death tax.

• Bank of America Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy

  [Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, October 2006] According to a recent study, high net-worth households indicated that their charitable giving would mostly stay the same if the estate tax were repealed and would stay the same or somewhat decrease if they received zero income tax deductions for their charitable contributions.

• Gasoline Taxes: User Fees or Pigouvian Levies?

  [Tax Foundation, November 27, 2006] Gasoline taxes have generally enjoyed public support when used to fund and maintain America’s roadways. Alterative justifications for gasoline taxes are increasingly popular among some academics, but they have yet to resonate with the American public.

• Killing the Death Tax

  [NCPA Brief Analysis #574, October 9, 2006] The estate tax generates little revenue for the federal government; it is estimated that the estate tax costs the private sector one dollar to comply for every dollar in revenue. This means that the true cost of the estate tax to the economy this year is at least $56 billion.

• A Congressman's Work is Never Done

  [National Taxpayers Union, September 13, 2006] With campaigning already well underway, the House and especially the Senate will need to cram in estate tax bills, if they want to avoid the “Do Nothing” moniker.

• Wealth, Inheritance and the Estate Tax

  [NCPA Study #289, September 2006] This report shows that the contribution of inheritances to the distribution of wealth in the United States is surprisingly small.

• Estates of Virginia

  [Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2006] Soon it will be safe to be caught dead in Virginia. Recently, Democratic Governor Tim Kaine and the Republican-controlled legislature struck a deal to abolish the state's estate tax, says the Wall Street Journal.

• Frist Links Wage Hike to Estate Tax Cut

  [Townhall, August 1, 2006] The only opportunity this year to increase the minimum wage and renew popular tax breaks will be linked to a reduction in the estate tax, says Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

• Death Tax Strategy

  [American Conservative Union Foundation, July 2006] The recent cloture vote in the Senate on HR 8 (permanent repeal of the death tax) held on June 8th was close – 57 of the required 60 votes – but no cigar.

• Econ 101: Is the Estate Tax Good or Bad?

  [Business and Media, August 9, 2006] The Senate recently blocked a vote on the bill that would have reduced the inheritance tax. In the media and in Congress, people have asked a lot of questions about the tax.

• H.R. 5638, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief Act of 2006

  [Committee on Ways and Means, June 2006] The House Ways and Means Committee details the bill's tax relief provisions.

• Death Tax Wrap-Up

  [American Conservative Union, June 28, 2006] A wrap-up of the preceedings involving the Permanent Estate Tax Relief Act.

• How to Really Help the Poor

  [USA Today/Heritage Foundation, July 24, 2006] Some of the worst ways for Congress to attempt to help poor Americans are paradoxically some of the most popular.

• Repealing the Federal Estate Tax

  [Cato Institute, June 2006] Permanently repealing the estate tax would likely spur greater savings and growth.

• Federal Estate and Gift Tax Collections, by State and Per Capita, 2005

  [Tax Foundation, April 28, 2006] The Tax Foundation’s assessment of federal estate and gift tax collections, by state and per capita, in 2005.

• State Estate and Gift Tax Collections, by State and Per Capita, 2005

  [Tax Foundation, April 28, 2006] The Tax Foundation’s assessment of state estate and gift tax collections, by state and per capita, in 2005.

• Effects of Raising the Exemption Level and of Repealing the Estate Tax

  [Congressional Budget Office, July 2004] Because EGTRRA phases in gradually, opponents of repealing the estate tax have proposed to freeze the reductions at some point before 2010, while proponents have proposed making the repeal permanent.

• A Scorecard on Death Tax Reform

  [Heritage Foundation, June 25, 1998] Death taxes remain the greatest threat to the success of minority- and women-owned businesses and family farms.

• We All Pay for the Estate Tax

  [NCPA Brief Analysis #556, June 6, 2006] Congress should repeal the estate tax because it discourages capital formation, making it harder to combine labor with capital, which reduces the demand for labor and reduces opportunities for on-the-job training. It also insures that the poor remain poor, and it keeps start-up businesses from growing to compete with older and bigger firms.

• The Economic and Fiscal Effects of Repealing Federal Estate Taxes

  [Heritage Foundation, November 15, 2002] A permanent repeal of the Federal Estate Tax would strengthen economic activity, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, bolster disposable income by $11 billion, reduce unemployment, and raise revenue while leaving the nation with a lower fed¬eral publicly held debt by FY 2011.

• Death and Taxes: The Economics of the Federal Estate Tax

  [Tax Foundation, June 2, 2006] The estate tax acts as a strong disincentive toward entrepreneurship.

• Taxing Forests to Death

  [NCPA Brief Analysis #462, October 23, 2003] The United States has one of the highest marginal estate tax rates in the developed world and despite recent reforms, the tax still costs families time, money and land. Permanent abolition of the tax would help families preserve forests, save wildlife and protect small businesses.

• Estate Taxes: An Historical Perspective

  [Heritage Foundation, January 16, 2004] Until recently, estate taxes (also known as death taxes) were the almost exclusive headache of the super rich, their tax attorneys, and their estate planners.

• Now is the Time to Permanently Repeal Federal Death Taxes

  [Heritage Foundation, June 16, 2003] Good tax policy is known for its certainty, if for no other characteristic. Without predictability, tax policy can create confusion and have a lethal effect on economic activity.

• Death Taxes: Killing the Economy

  [Heritage Foundation, January 23, 2003] Not only does current law amount to a multi-billion dollar “bait and switch” on future taxpayers, but the moral and economic harm of death taxes also continues unabated despite the intentions of those Members of Congress who voted for repeal in 2001.

• Do the Rich Flee from High Estate Taxes?

  [University of Michigan, July 2004] A long-standing argument in the public finance literature holds that state governments should refrain from redistributive tax and transfer policies, and that these should instead be the responsibility of central government.

• Ending the Estate Tax

  [NCPA, October 22, 2003] The estate tax has an enormous impact on the work incentives of the living, once they are past the point of providing for themselves in retirement.

• Tortuous Schedule for Death Tax Reductions

  [Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2002] The phased reduction in death tax rates through the year 2010 has made a nightmare out of estate planning, critics charge.

• Fighting for a Principle Energizes Bush Supporters

  [NCPA, Op-Ed, January 22, 2003] Debating estate tax repeal with Bill Gates Sr. brought home to Bruce Bartlett the truth that if you ask for a full loaf you may get half; but if you start asking for half a loaf, you may end up with nothing.