Taxing Privilege More Effectively: Replacing the Estate Tax with an Inheritance Tax

Hamilton Project Discussion Paper No. 2007-07

64 Pages Posted: 18 Jun 2007 Last revised: 29 Jan 2020

Date Written: June 12, 2007

Abstract

The repeal of the estate tax for one year only in 2010 creates vast uncertainty but also provides an opportunity to reconsider the taxation of million would include in income and pay a 15 percentage point surtax on gifts and bequests. This paper proposes replacing the estate tax with an inheritance tax. Heirs receiving lifetime inheritances greater than $2.3 would include in income and pay a 15 percentage point surtax on the excess. The proposal would also replace stepped-up basis with carryover basis for bequests. As under the estate tax, the fraction of heirs affected would be miniscule, falling from three to two in 1,000.

The proposal has a number of advantages relative to the estate tax. It would reward donors who give more broadly. It would enhance efficiency and reduce compliance costs by curbing tax planning and the rules needed to contain it. Cross-national experience also suggests it would be administrable. Most importantly, the proposal would lower taxes on heirs receiving smaller inheritances and those with moderate incomes, making the tax system better attuned to unearned advantage and ability to pay. At an individual level, the distribution of tax burdens would change considerably: only 5 percent of the estate tax rate for an heir is accounted for by her inheritance tax rate, and vice versa, and each tax would raise 14 percent of revenue from heirs facing no tax burden under the other. The proposal is revenue-neutral relative to 2009 law. A lower exemption would raise more revenue and bring the tax rate on inherited income closer to the income tax rate on non-inherited income, which is about three times higher.

Keywords: estate tax, inheritance tax, wealth transfer taxes, inheritance, gifts, bequests, incidence, carryover basis, microsimulation,

JEL Classification: H2, H21, H22, H23, H24, D31, D63, D64, K34, A13

Suggested Citation

Batchelder, Lily L., Taxing Privilege More Effectively: Replacing the Estate Tax with an Inheritance Tax (June 12, 2007). Hamilton Project Discussion Paper No. 2007-07, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=993314 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.993314

Lily L. Batchelder (Contact Author)

New York University School of Law ( email )

40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012-1099
United States
212-992-8156 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://rb.gy/8nrm0t

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