US Estate Tax Filings Plummet After Tax Cuts
Estate tax returns filed in the US dropped from 122,000 in 2000 to 32,300 in 2013. After the Trump tax cuts, filings further decreased. The richest 1% of Americans controlled $50 trillion in 2024, yet the estate tax, designed to apply to all transfers at death and by gift, has been significantly reduced. Wealthy families funded campaigns in the early 1990s to reframe the estate tax as an 'immoral death tax' that harms family farms and businesses, despite provisions designed to protect inherited wealth. California is implementing a retroactive one-time tax to prevent residents from leaving the state to avoid taxation. The tax applies to individuals who previously lived in the state as of January 1st.
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Sources · 7 independent
WBUR Boston
“So in 2024, the richest 1% of Americans controlled massive amounts of the country's wealth, $50 trillion. And yet the estate tax that was designed to apply to all transfers at death and by gift”
WBUR Boston
“California is trying to get around this problem of people leaving the state by making it this sort of retroactive one-time tax.”
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