Federal Estate and Gift Taxes

Federal Estate and Gift Taxes: "The share of estates that were taxable rose substantially between 1950 and the mid-1970s, when that share reached almost 8 percent, but has declined sharply since then (see Figure 2). Since 1977, generally about 1 percent to 2 percent of adults who died each year have left estates large enough to be taxable. In 2000, before EGTRRA was enacted, 51,200 estates were taxable, representing 2.2 percent of adult deaths in that year. EGTRRA reduced the percentage of estates that were taxable. For example, 17,400 taxable estate tax returns were filed in 2007; most were for deaths in 2006, when the effective exemption amount was $2 million, representing about 0.7 percent of adult deaths in that year."

Figure 2.

Estate Tax Returns

Source: Congressional Budget Office based on data from the Internal Revenue Service.