Tax Law Update

How much do estate and gift taxes contribute to funding the federal government? A March 19, 2008, Congressional Research Service report said that combined revenues from estate and gift taxes were $26 billion in 2007, constituting 1 percent of total federal revenue. The Congressional Budget Office projects that, if the estate tax were to be reinstated in 2011 as scheduled, “revenue from the estate and gift taxes would climb steadily by about $7 billion per year.”