• Estates larger than $2 million potentially owe estate tax in 2007. Only about ½ percent of deaths result in taxable estates. The estate tax will raise about $19 billion from 14,000 estates in 2007.
  Source: Tax Policy Center Table T06-0214
• Under the 2001 tax cut, the estate tax phases out gradually to complete repeal in 2010. In 2011, the estate tax reverts to its 2001 status with estates greater than $1 million subject to tax rates up to 60 percent.
  Source: The Estate Tax Is Down, But Not Out
• The estate tax is the most progressive federal tax. In 2007, more than 90 percent of estate tax revenue will come from the top 10 percent of the income distribution. Taxpayers in the bottom four quintiles face an average effective tax rate of less than 0.05 percent.
  Source: Tax Policy Center Table T06-0308
  

  Click for underlying data

• Congress has considered many proposals to permanently reform the estate tax with higher exemptions and lower rates. All proposals would severely erode estate tax revenues to well below half of current levels.
  Source: Tax Policy Center Table T06-0214

For more on the estate tax, see:

Estate Tax Reform: A Third Option, C. Eugene Steuerle, July 18, 2005.

Options to Reform the Estate Tax, Leonard E. Burman, William G. Gale and Jeff Rohaly, March 23, 2005.

Effects of Estate Tax Reform on Charitable Giving, by Jon M. Bakija and William G. Gale, July 10, 2003.

The Estate Tax Is Down, But Not Out, by Leonard E. Burman and William G. Gale, December 1, 2001.

Tables:

• Current Law and Estate Tax Proposals: Effect on Returns and Tax Liability, 2007-16, June 7, 2006,
• Distribution of Possible Estate Tax Compromises.

See all publications related to Estate and Gift Taxes.

See all estimates related to Estate and Gift Taxes.

See all tax facts (background data) related to Estate and Gift Taxes.