The $250 Billion Price Tag Associated with Gift Tax Repeal

Abstract

For close to a century, many commentators, academics, and politicians have considered the gift tax as an important backstop to preserve the integrity of the nation’s estate tax. Indeed, in the absence of a viable gift tax, taxpayers could easily circumvent their estate tax obligations. But what these very same people often fail to realize is that the gift tax also serves an entirely different, yet significant purpose as well: it acts as an integral backstop to ensure the progressive nature of the nation’s income tax. Indeed, in the absence of a viable gift tax, taxpayers could easily circumvent their income tax obligations. In light of the gift tax’s historic roles, this analysis contends that even if Congress repeals the estate tax, it should retain the gift tax; otherwise, untold damage may be perpetrated against the income tax, producing an estimated revenue shortfall of $250 billion.