page_title: Estate tax in the United States
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Estate tax in the United States / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Top U. S. Estate Tax Rate
context_page_description: The estate tax in the United States is a tax on the transfer of the estate of a deceased person. The tax applies to property that is transferred via a will or according to state laws of intestacy. Other transfers that are subject to the tax can include those made through an intestate estate or trust, or the payment of certain life insurance benefits or financial account sums to beneficiaries. The estate tax is one part of the Unified Gift and Estate Tax system in the United States. The other part of the system, the gift tax, applies to transfers of property during a person's life.
  In addition to the federal estate tax, many states have enacted similar taxes. These taxes may be termed an "inheritance tax" to the extent the tax is payable by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, as opposed to an estate tax, which is a levy on the estate of a person who has died. The tax is often the subject of political debate, and opponents of the estate tax call it the "death tax". Some supporters of the tax have called it the "Paris Hilton tax".
  If an asset is left to a spouse or a federally recognized charity, the tax usually does not apply.
context_section_description: Taxes which apply to estates or to inheritance in the United States trace back to the 18th century.  According to the IRS, a temporary stamp tax in 1797 applied a tax of varying size depending on the size of the bequest, ranging from 25 cents for a bequest between $50 and $100, to 1 dollar for each $500.  The tax was repealed in 1802.  In the 19th century, the Revenue Act of 1862 and the War Revenue Act of 1898 also imposed rates, but were each repealed shortly thereafter.  The modern estate tax was enacted in 1916.
  The modern estate tax was temporarily phased out and repealed by tax legislation in 2001.  This legislation gradually dropped the rates until they were eliminated in 2010. However, the law did not make these changes permanent and the estate tax returned in 2011.
  But late in 2010, before that clause took effect, Congress passed superseding legislation that imposed a 35 percent tax in 2011 and 2012 on estate in excess of $5 million. Like the 2001 legislation, the 2010 legislation had a sunset clause so that in 2013 the estate tax would return to its 2001 level. But then on New Year's Day 2013, Congress made permanent an estate tax on estates in excess of $5 million at a rate of 40 percent.
caption: Top Estate Tax Rate, 1914–2018[44]
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