Publications
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 and gift taxes? Contact us at (202) 464-6200.
Publications from The Tax Foundation
- Where Do State and Local Governments Get Their Tax Revenue?, by Gerald Prante, October 9, 2009
- Testimony before Maryland Legislature on the Compliance Costs of Estate Taxes, by Josh Barro, February 18, 2009
- Estimating Federal Tax Burdens for Major City Areas, Counties, and U.S. Congressional Districts, by Andrew Chamberlain and Gerald Prante, March 22, 2007
- Death and Taxes: The Economics of the Federal Estate Tax, by Andrew Chamberlain, Gerald Prante and Patrick Fleenor, June 2, 2006
- The Gift and Estate Tax and Economic Performance, by J. D. Foster, Ph.D., February 1, 1995
- An Analysis of the Disincentive Effects of the Estate Tax on Entrepreneurship, by Patrick Fleenor and J. D. Foster, Ph.D., June 1, 1994
- A History and Overview of Estate Taxes in the United States, by Patrick Fleenor, January 1, 1994
- Tax Review: Impact of Federal Estate and Gift Taxes, by Dan Throop Smith, May 1, 1976
- Tax Review: Estate and Gift Tax Revision, by C. Lowell Harriss, May 1, 1973
- Tax Review: Revising Estate Taxation, by C. Lowell Harriss, April 1, 1971