Myths and Realities about the Estate Tax

PDF of this report (7pp.) The estate tax is a tax on property (cash, real estate, stock, or other assets) transferred from deceased persons to their heirs.  Only the wealthiest estates in the country pay the tax because it is levied only on the portion of an estate’s value that exceeds a specified exemption level, currently $5.25 million per person (effectively $10.5 million per married couple). The estate tax thus limits, to a modest degree, the large tax breaks that extremely wealthy households get on their wealth as it grows, which can otherwise go completely untaxed.  Though the estate tax…

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