Death Tax Repeal Act

Summary#

This bill would remove two federal taxes: the estate tax (tax on the value of a person’s estate when they die) and the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax (tax on certain gifts or transfers that skip a generation). It would also change how gift taxes are computed, set a lifetime gift exemption base using $10,000,000 with an inflation adjustment, and replace the gift-tax rate schedule in the Internal Revenue Code. The bill includes technical and clerical changes, a limited transition rule for certain qualified domestic trust rules that apply to surviving spouses of people who died before enactment, and a transition rule treating the calendar year of enactment as two separate years for some tax calculations. All changes would apply to estates of people who die, generation-skipping transfers, and gifts made on or after the date the bill becomes law.

What it means for you#

• If a person dies on or after the date this bill becomes law, their estate would not be subject to the federal estate tax under the repealed rules.
• Generation-skipping transfers made on or after the date this bill becomes law would not be subject to the federal GST tax.
• Gift tax rules and the rate schedule would change as the bill describes. The bill sets a $10,000,000 baseline for calculating the lifetime gift exemption and provides an inflation adjustment for that amount.
• The bill includes a specific transition rule for some distributions from qualified domestic trusts (section 2056A) for surviving spouses of decedents who died before enactment.
• The effective date language in the bill says these changes apply to deaths, transfers, and gifts on or after the date of enactment.

Expenses#

No publicly available information in the bill text about estimated federal revenue changes or budgetary costs.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information in the bill text stating reasons or arguments from supporters.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information in the bill text stating reasons or arguments from opponents.