A Simpler Verifiable Gift Tax

Gerzog, Wendy C.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2512407

A Simpler Verifiable Gift Tax

University of Baltimore School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2015-35

34 Pages Posted: 21 Oct 2014 Last revised: 15 Oct 2015

See all articles by Wendy C. Gerzog

Wendy C. Gerzog

University of Baltimore - School of Law

Date Written: October 20, 2014

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to propose a simpler verifiable gift tax, to reassert basic principles of transfer taxes, to encourage simple, outright gifts, and to eliminate some of the major abuses in the current gift tax regime. To accomplish these goals, the proposed tax would simplify gift completion rules, adopt a hard-to-complete rule of transfer taxation, reduce the annual exclusion while expanding the consumption exclusion, and employ loss of preference inducements to increase gift tax compliance.

Keywords: gift tax, annual exclusion, consumption exclusion, portability, compliance, valuation distortions, FLP, GRAT

JEL Classification: H20, H21, H24, K34

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Gerzog, Wendy C., A Simpler Verifiable Gift Tax (October 20, 2014). University of Baltimore School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2015-35. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2512407 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2512407