II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 176 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce the rate of tax 

on estates, gifts, and generation-skipping transfers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 17, 2019 

Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BLUNT, and Ms. ERNST) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce 

the rate of tax on estates, gifts, and generation-skipping 

transfers. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Estate Tax Rate Re5 duction Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REDUCTION OF RATE OF TAX ON ESTATES, GIFTS, 

7 AND GENERATION-SKIPPING TRANSFERS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2001 of the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(c) RATE OF TAX.—For purposes of determining 

4 the tentative tax, the rate of tax shall be 20 percent of 

5 the amount with respect to which the tentative tax is com6 puted.’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (g)(1), by striking ‘‘rates of 

8 tax under subsection (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘rate of tax 

9 under subsection (c)’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) Section 2056A(b)(2) of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking 

14 ‘‘highest’’; and 

15 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

16 ‘‘highest’’. 

17 (2) Section 2107(a) of such Code is amended 

18 by striking ‘‘the table contained in’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘the rate of tax under’’. 

20 (3) Section 2201(a) of such Code is amended 

21 by striking ‘‘the rate schedule set forth in section 

22 2001(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘the rate of tax under sec23 tion 2001(c)’’. 

24 (4) Section 2641 of such Code is amended to 

25 read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2641. APPLICABLE RATE. 

2 ‘‘For purposes of this chapter, the term ‘applicable 

3 rate’ means, with respect to any generation-skipping 

4 transfer, the product of— 

5 ‘‘(1) the rate imposed by section 2001 on the 

6 estates of decedents dying at the time of the taxable 

7 distribution, taxable termination, or direct skip, as 

8 the case may be, and 

9 ‘‘(2) the inclusion ratio with respect to the 

10 transfer.’’. 

11 (5) Section 2801(a)(1) of such Code is amended 

12 by striking ‘‘the highest rate of tax specified in the 

13 table contained in’’ and inserting ‘‘the rate of tax 

14 under’’. 

15 (6) Section 6601(j)(2)(A)(i) of such Code is 

16 amended by striking ‘‘the rate schedule set forth 

17 in’’. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply to estates of decedents dying, gen20 eration-skipping transfers, and gifts made, after Decem21 ber 31, 2019. 

22 (d) BUDGETARY EFFECTS.— 

23 (1) PAYGO SCORECARD.—The budgetary ef24 fects of this section shall not be entered on either 

25 PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to section 


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1 4(d) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 

2 U.S.C. 933(d)). 

3 (2) SENATE PAYGO SCORECARD.—The budg4 etary effects of this section shall not be entered on 

5 any PAYGO scorecard maintained for purposes of 

6 section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), 

7 the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal 

8 year 2018. 

Æ 


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